Longport votes to accept two beach block lots willed to them by Dorothy McGee
(It’s a better deal than the $20 million Ocean City paid for its vacant lots.)
The Shore borough of Longport said thank you very much Wednesday and officially accepted the gift of two valuable beach block lots from the estate of longtime resident Dorothy McGee, agreeing to build a park in her name with flowers, benches, and a 3-foot-high fence.
McGee’s requirements in her will were relatively few for the property bordered on one side by a golden-colored brick sidewalk, on a street with a grassy median and a bird feeder. And her price was equally golden for the two lots, each valued at about $1.7 million: zero, though the borough and any donors will fund the park’s construction.
The transaction stood in stark and happy contrast to one finalized last month in nearby Ocean City, whose city leaders approved a $20 million purchase of an empty tract of land after a protracted fight and an initial offer of $9 million.
» READ MORE: How Ocean City’s taxpayers paid $20 million for vacant lots that were supposed to cost $9 million
The Longport Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the terms of McGee’s will for the lots on South 22nd Avenue, including the following terms, using the precise language taken directly from a draft of McGee’s will, said Longport solicitor Michael Affanato.
A gazebo similar to the one on 35th Street in the borough.
A “tastefully designed” plaque that will read: “Park donated by Dorothy Sanders McGee.”
A fence no higher than 3 feet, and designed “so as not to indicate that it is guarding an unwelcome area.”
An “abundance” of flowers, trees, bushes, benches.
The park’s purpose will be principally a place where people “can rest, enjoy a bit of green, and fresh air.” There will be no hardscaping for parking or sports courts, and parking in general will be prohibited except for maintenance vehicles, according to the terms accepted by the borough.
McGee, 88, was a Longport stalwart: beach block resident, secretary of the borough’s board of education, a Miss America hostess and member of the Garden Club, second mom to the local kids who ran around the Shore town with her children.
After McGee died on Nov. 18, Longport found out she had bequeathed one more gift to them: two vacant beach block lots on 22nd Avenue next to her home. Her basic stipulation: a park in her name, with a gazebo.
The estate will not be responsible for any expenses related to the establishment or upkeep of the park. Once the deed restriction is filed with the county, the properties will come off the tax rolls. The current assessment for each lot is at least $1.7 million, and the borough collects $17,500 in taxes on each undeveloped lot.
The city has estimated it will cost about $100,000 to create the park, and a group of neighbors has expressed a willingness to pay for most of the costs.
Still, Commissioner James Leeds, who oversees revenue and finance, expressed some concern at Wednesday’s meeting about the cost to taxpayers, which he estimated at adding $125 or more a year. “Many citizens are living on fixed income,” he noted.
Despite a desire by some neighbors to have their own plaques on benches or other features, a common means of raising money, the city’s ordinance states that, as McGee expressed in her will, there will be “no plaques erected attributing improvements or maintenance to groups or individuals as benefactors.”
“Mrs. McGee didn’t want her gesture watered down by 15 or 16 other donation signs and people not realizing this is the Dorothy McGee Park and donated by her,” Affanato told the commission.
Affanato said McGee’s estate advocated for some additional restrictions not contained in McGee’s will, including banning large gatherings and dogs, but the borough is reserving the right to consider those terms as separate borough ordinances.
“They made suggestions about no large gathering, no dogs, stuff like that,” Affanato said. “We said, we’re not putting that in the deed restrictions. That’s up for the governing body to decide how they want to regulate the park.”
If the borough violates the terms of the memorandum of understanding, the lots are to revert back to the estate or to the heirs of the estate. It states the borough has 24 months to begin construction from the filing of the deed restriction.
In the event of any destruction of the park from natural or man-made disaster, the borough has another 24 months to rebuild.
» READ MORE: A Longport woman left her beloved Shore town two beach block lots
The terms allow the borough to accept donations for the park, and to allow input on the design of the park from those donating (presumably the neighbors). The borough will also provide the estate a preliminary design to allow input from McGee’s family, but retained the right to decide on the final design, as long as it is within the deed restrictions of McGee’s will.
During the meeting, Levon Clayton, a resident of the borough and its fire chief, emphasized the rarity of any open lot at the Shore eluding the rush of Shore development.
Although there was some initial discussion on whether the borough would accept the gift, given that it creates some additional costs, Mayor Nicholas Russo called Wednesday’s vote “a no-brainer.”
Russo said adding the dedicated open space and the lasting legacy of the gift’s generosity would add “intangibles” beyond the park itself. The vote was 3-0.