Moving forward as film-ready community; citizen complains about the bass
SOMERS POINT — The city is among the many places on the Atlantic Flyway popular with birds and, therefore, birders.
Councilwoman Janice Johnston, liaison to the Economic Development Advisory Commission, said the group is working on bringing birding to Somers Point.
“We have a lot of great areas for birders,” she said July 23.
Members of EDAC have spoken to avid birders and professionals in the field about how to attract people to the area.
“They’re already going to Ocean City and going to Cape May, and so we can kind of catch some of them on their way or on their way back,” Johnston said, adding that the group is looking into purchasing binoculars to place at some areas around the city.
The city is looking to spend about $233,000 on a nature trail next to the old sewage treatment plant on DeFeo Lane.
The proposed work includes parking, trail signage, mulch, landscaping to screen the public works area, some fencing, trash and recycling receptacles and a viewing platform overlooking Patcong Creek.
“That new path back there is a great spot,” Johnston said.
Film-ready community
Johnston said the city and Atlantic County Economic Alliance (ACEA) are moving forward with the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission on the Film Ready Certification Initiative.
The idea is to take advantage of Netflix’s East Coast production hub to attract filmmakers. Netflix is building a $1 billion, 292-acre facility on the former Fort Monmouth military base. It will feature 12 state-of-the-art soundstages, along with hotels, theaters and retail space.
“We’ve already taken the two steps, the first workshop and I attended a Zoom meeting for the second qualification. The third thing is for us to do an ordinance,” she said, noting she met with City Administrator Jason Frost and solicitor Tom Smith.
“He’s working on preparing that and hopefully we can have that for our next meeting in August to keep that moving forward,” she said.
All about that bass
A neighbor of the new Pablo restaurant, which took over the site of the former Mexiquilla on Maryland Avenue, complained July 23 about the persistent bass coming from the Mexican eatery.
Gregory Owen, a former teacher and coach at Mainland Regional High School, said he bought a house five years ago that is “pretty much right behind the property in question.”
“I gotta tell you, our quality of life behind that pounding that’s going on, it’s the beast that just comes to our house and shakes our wall,” he said, noting most of his neighbors feel the same way.
Owen said the issue is not the volume and that the restaurant is complying with time regulations.
“It’s more about the vibration,” he said. “The bass just goes right through the whole house.”
He said he is happy to see that the business is doing well but wondered whether there’s a way to mitigate the sound.
“I just want to let you know that I think that a thriving business is great for the community and there’s a lot of support,” Owen said, noting he has sent friends to the restaurant.
Owen has called the police on several occasions but was told that the restaurant was within its rights.
He said on weekends, preparation starts about 10 a.m. for a noon opening and the music begins immediately.
“There’s really no time on the weekends that you can sit in our backyard,” he said.
Owen said on the advice of police, he spoke with the restaurant management. He said he spoke with three managers. The first two placated him but the third “basically just shooed me off and said. ‘Look, we’re within our rights. I don’t want to hear it.’”
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
