MARGATE – Jody Singer begins her day bright and early at 4:30 a.m. by walking around her Amherst Avenue home, picking up orange slices, tin cans of High Noon vodka soda and other trash left over from the night’s escapades.
The garbage comes from the hordes of drunk people leaving Memories in Margate, the bar next door to Singer’s house.
“It’s completely out of control there. The police are outnumbered, the security forces are outnumbered and it’s become almost unbearable, especially for the people on the Madison side,” said Singer, who is also president of the Margate Mariner Homeowners Association. “They’re fighting, they’re screaming, they’re peeing, they’re vomiting, they’re having sex between the cars. It’s unbearable.”
Residents of bars such as Robert’s Place on Atlantic Avenue and Memories have raised concerns with city officials and the owners of the establishments about late-night activity, complaining of noise after 10 p.m., littering, parking, speeding, drunk people, violent behavior and public urination.
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“I have to say that we have suffered greatly over the last three years from the noise and increasingly long hours of a restaurant/bar near us, Robert’s Place on Essex Avenue,” said Sherri Dratfield, a resident of South Exeter Avenue, a block from Robert’s. “They have restaurants on the sidewalk, they have an area that used to be maybe a parking lot, and they have very loud music until well after 10 p.m. at night.”
Representatives from both Robert’s Place and Memories said they have worked with residents to address concerns.
Robert’s Place attorney Christopher M. Baylinson said he was surprised residents had approached the City Commission to voice their concerns, as he believed they had already reached an agreement to resolve the issues.
Baylinson said there has been a legal dispute between Robert’s Place and neighbors over noise, outdoor activities and other complaints.
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This resulted in seven conditions, which Robert agreed to. These included soundproof walls and the provision of security at weekends to keep crowds under control.
“We all have to try to live together. We’ve tried to resolve this dispute with Robert’s. The people who live right next door to Robert’s have a noise issue, so there’s going to be a revision of the sidewalk ordinance, and there’s going to be a revision of the restaurant ordinance,” said city attorney Scott Abbott.
Police Chief Matthew Hankinson said that at the time of the July commissioners’ meeting, the department had received “zero calls” about Robert’s Place or Memories.
Teddy Sourias, the owner of Memories in Margate, said he works weekly to mitigate the problems raised by residents.
“We never expected it to take off like this,” Sourias said of the business boom Memories has experienced since reopening in May.
Sourias said he is working with sound engineers to address the noise and vibration issues residents have complained about. He is also working with the city to put more trash cans on the property and to schedule trash pickup at convenient times so trash cans can be picked up without disturbing residents.
In addition, Sourias said he was working on a solution to reported public urination, a “problem he did not anticipate.”
“We talk to residents weekly. The city and police have been a great help,” Sourias said. “We are really working to find solutions to these problems. It won’t happen overnight, but we are doing our best.”
Police in Longport have been dealing with numerous car thefts in recent days and have urged residents to lock their vehicles and keep their belongings safe.
Attorney Mike Sinkevich represented the 7811 Atlantic Condominium Association in a complaint against Robert’s Place.
“These restrictions, if followed, will ensure the peace and joy of the neighborhood in these mixed commercial and residential neighborhoods, similar to where my clients’ association exists,” Sinkevich said of the agreement between residents and businesses. “In fact, we are not opposed to outdoor dining, as I said before. We just believe there need to be certain restrictions. Those restrictions already exist in this ordinance, and those reasonable restrictions are reasonable.”
Public Safety Commissioner Cathy Horn confirmed that “a tremendous amount of tickets were issued this summer for urinating in public,” which Hankinson confirmed.
“I can tell you, in the last 10 years, we’ve probably never issued as many citations for public urination as we have this year,” Hankinson said, adding that the last time he had to deal with the problem of this severity was when Maloney’s Tavern closed in 2005.
The problems at Memories left the residents at their wits’ end.
“It’s completely uncontrolled and disgusting,” said Joan Germanatta, a Mariner resident, about the way he believes drunk people treat the neighborhood. “Madison Avenue has become a public toilet. It’s a disgrace.”
Since the July 18 meeting, however, residents like Singer have praised the city and bar owners for doing their best to contain the problems.
Horn and Hankinson visited Memories in the early hours of July 20 to see the events for themselves. Mayor Mike Collins stopped by the following weekend.
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The Department of Public Works has placed trash cans around the property and police presence is increased. Hankinson said 34 citations have been issued for public urination.
However, Singer suggested hiring someone trained to read noise levels in decibels and setting up some sort of public restroom facility to mitigate noise and peeing problems. Hankinson said the city is still working on that.
“I just think we should have more in stock next season,” she said.
