Who’s holding back retail business on Brigantine Beach? You’ll ask yourself that question after reviewing this video highlight from the recent Brigantine City Council meeting. Click thru to watch video. It was a public comment from local developer; Mike Snyder. Mike is one of the owners of some key properties throughout the City of Brigantine: the old Steak 38 building, the Circle Gulf Station, the Rod and Reel liquor license, etc.
In the associated video, Snyder pleads with City Council for some movement on his months-old request for clarification on the parking behind his recently rebuilt Steak 38 property. For some reason, certain parking areas are no longer a part of the 10 year deal that Snyder thought he owned through the purchase of said property. ‘Legal issues’ was the reason submitted by both the City Manager and Councilman DeLucry on why this issue is stuck
Surprisingly, Snyder also shares that he offered to donate $$ to fix up the adjacent public works yard; aka city dump/recycling center. (on his own dime!) Snyder also offered to hire lawyers to move this snag forward, and also provided some neighborly assistance to the ‘Fish Finder’: access to his parking (at no charge) during the day. Why wouldn’t council fast track stuff like this?
In what could be a clue as to what Snyder plans to do with the old ‘Steak 38’…he mentions that the fishermen heading back to their parked cars after a day on the water, could potentially be his customers at 5pm. Hmmmmmmm….
At one time, Brigantine had 7 restaurants that served alcohol. Today, that number has plummeted to just two.
Brigantine Councilman Pullella (a competing developer/property investor) stayed relatively quiet during this back and forth. Instead, the smart but often nasty Council DeLucry snapped on the respectful and polite Snyder.
As readers of BrigantineNOW know, boosting the economy of Brigantine is something that benefits all. By placing more resources towards boosting the economy of Brigantine, we’ll attract more investment, retail and tourism dollars. This could allow for a less radical, ham handed restructuring of our city.
City Council is GREAT at 2 of 3 skills. Unfortunately, they’re great at the 2 bad ones.
Our elected leaders (employees of the local taxpayers) are great at raising taxes. They can do that with both eyes closed and both hands tied behind their back. Brigantine City Council also seems to be quite comfortable with reducing some critical city services. ( some services should be INCREASED )
On the flip side, Brigantine Council receives a big, fat ‘F’ for the much needed skill of new business development, growing non-property tax revenue & attracting/retaining retail investment. While residential building is exploding and building permits are reportedly stacking up inside City Hall, too many Brigantine storefronts have been sitting empty for years.
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We fully support mike. He has a fabulous track record here in brigantine. Steak 38 was an eyesore, now it looks fantastic. Let’s make our city grand. SUPPORT MIKE!
We need more good family places where we can stay in Brigantine and spend the money in the town that we live. Why must the government make it so difficult on business owners.
Mike is doing more for the city than council has done since each has been elected. I think Mike should be on council as he is doing a lot more for the city and seems to be able to get things done.. I VOTE FOR MIKE !!
Unfortunately, it seems that 2 of 4 restaurants in Brigantine have lost their liquor licenses. Would that be St. George’s, Andres, Laguna, or Cellar 32?
Mike, please let us know so that I can plan my next meals.
This is a question: isn’t the number of liquor licenses based on the city population? I assume the number of licenses ‘plummeted’ in direct proportion to the plummeting population.
The number of licenses has not changed in years. There are a few businessmen in the community who buy and hold the licenses to prevent competitors from purchasing them and becoming their competition.