CAPE MAY ^ H^E

J Vol. 22 No. 11 c1986 Stawove Corp. All right* reserved.

March 12, 1986

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County Growing; with Older, Richer People

r By JOE ZELNIK The county's grolving. In population: the fastest rate in the state. / In proportion (of "older persons!" the state's highest rathrfcith no signs of tapering off. Tourism Slowing? Labor market analyst Chester E. Sherman's study of Cape May County left the cold certainty of statistics for two brief paragraphs of opinion. Titled "Outlook," and expanded upon in a telephone interview, it made these predictions. "Marginal-to-moderate" job growth is expected this year, basically revolving around trade and service industries necessary for the growing year-round population. Health services should be an area of "considerable future growth" as the county's number of older persons expands DEVELOPMENT in the northern municipalities will continue largely because of "spill-over development due to (Page 15 Please) ^newT 1|^?/ DIGEST /*^7 / The Week's If 1/ // Top Stories Zoom, Bang, Bang, Ten days before the official arrival of spring, temperatures in the county zoomed to the mid-7Qs in mainland communities and low -60s on the barrier islands Monday. Convertible drivers lowered the tops on their autos and it seemed like everybody in the county, especially in the island communities, was hammering and sawing as if suddenly reminded that tourists clutching summer rental dollars will be here in three , months. Here or There? COURT HOUSE — The county's Home Builders' Association has asked freeholders to change their Solid Waste Management Plan to permit on-site burial of "construction-vegetation waste" in order to save tipping fees at the MUA landfill. Freeholders Will ask the county MUA. planning and health departments for their views, especially about the potential of "environmental damage," and promised an answer by March 25. Farming and Survival COURT HOUSE — Freeholders interviewed two more farmers last week as they prepare to name an unpaid county Agricultural Development Board aimed (Page 4 Please)

In deaths: a natural result of being a retirement haven. In income, total and per capita: faster than the state average. In labor force: the number of people 16 and over either working or looking for a job is increasing at five times the national average. BIT ONE GROWTH RATE trails the state and nation: jobs. And one segment of jobs, manufacturing. suffered a 46 percent decrease over the last seven years. There are among a number of conclusions — many of them interrelated — from a study released last week by the state Department of Labor. It was prepared by

Chester E. Sherman, principal labor ' market analyst. The county's population growth rate was 38 percent between 1970 and 1930 and 8 percent between 1980 and 1984. which is the state's highest rate despite the fact that it was "due entirely to in-migration." the report said. Since 1980. that growth has occurred primarily in the mainland townships of Upper. Middle. Lower and Dennis and in the resort community of Ocean City Thev accounted for 84 percent of the increase, or 5.639 persons. THOSE ALSO WERE the communities with the greatest number of new housing

units during the 1970-80 period, wjth 77 percent of the 7,189 constructed. But that emphasis has shifted from the mainland to the beach communities as the 8.378 housing units were okayed from 1980 through the first eight months of 1985 Overall, housing construction has more i jthan kept pace with the population increase. presumably because many of the units are intended for summer rentals The county was the only one in the state where deaths surpassed births in the 1980-84 period That, of course, stems from another trend, the county's increasing appeal to "older persons ' < 65 and older1 (Page 15. Please)

Try to Find a Party

Teenagers: Nothing to Do But Hang Out

By GREGG LAWSON Kids get cabin fever too. "Everything dies here in the winter." said Lisa. 16. of Court House. "You have to enjoy the summer while its here." In summer, teenagers walk the boardwalk. sun on the beaches, work and play arcade games. In winter, they hang out on street corners and malls, in convenience stores, bowling alleys and fast-food restaurants. There are an estimated 20,000 year-round teenagers in the county a group that says there is nothing for them to do here in winer. "THERE'S NOTHING TO DO buUhang around, party and drive around all night." said Rose. 19. of West Cape May. "There's nothing for us to do unless somebody babyCALL those dents "character" and reconsider refinishing Antigues, page 16. PIRATES abound in area - in the 17th and 18th Centuries, that is. Historically Speaking, page 19. EVER HEAR a dinosaur? Joy ride, page 67. • COUNTY AGREES to help , train summer police; page 6.

sits. Then we go over and party or watch TV." Currently, the county has one movie theater open, in the Rio Mall in Rio Grande, with a choice of twb movies. The Wildwood Bowl is the only bowling alley open. But after 6 p.m.. open bowling stops and leagues > take over. Open bowling is allowed on Satur days; unless there is a tournament. "Even if you go on a weekend you can't . bowl," said one teen. "The place is packed. " Another favorite teen activity, roller skating, has been available at Convention Hall in Cape May. This year, however, the skating is limited to two hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoon because of renovations. —THE COUNTY HAS only one large indoor shopping center, the Rio Mall, and on weekends the place is flooded with teenagers, according to security guards there "Some of them are here from dawn to dusk." said one guard. "Their parent drops them off and expect us to babysit them." The guard said the youths are a nuisance to elderly people, some of whom are afraid to enter. Also, he said, the youngsters have been know to spill food and beverages, drink alcohcl and use drugs, litter, break phones and pinbali machines, curse, fight and "make love on the floor." "I CAN UNDERSTAND their frustration, having no place tb go." said Fred Aldrich. captain of security "But they have to respect our position and that of the merchants. "The majority are not bad kis. it's 10 per cent who cause problems." he added. "It's just a shame there aren't other places for them to go."

Rio .Mall: A Place to Go Last Friday evening, the mall was full of teens coming to and from the movies, playing the pinbajl machines, sitting and talking on the three or four benches in the tiny building and coming in and out of the most popular spot, the pitttrfiarlor The girls watched the boys and.the boys watched the girls ; occasionally, they intermingled Two teen-age girls brought small children they were babysitting This is the only plactf&ve have to go." ^ (Page 15 Please)

—j. Property Values Up $284 Million Hi , By JOE ZELNIK $16.7 million. $13 million and $11.9 million, respectively. That brought their totals to & . " L The county's assessed valuation increased by 4.3 percent or $533 million. $397 million and $476 million, »■ almost $284 million last year to $6.87 billion. respectively. I Upper Township made up almost 60 percent of the increase. The remainder of the county, in descenrfk ■ > almost $168 million, because it was revalued from 53 percent to ding order of increase, with the increase in 96 percent of "true value." assessed valuation followed by the total: I Wilwood Crest. $10.7 million to $476 ' | That deviation aside, the biggest increase occurred in m!jjl0n: ,^va'0Il; IS. I Ocean City, which has by far the county's largest assessed million; Lower Township. $7.8 million to valuation. It jumped by $23.6 million last year to $1,859 $621 million; Cape May. $6.o million to $277 '» billion. -jji v . I Woodbine, on the other hand, with the smallest assessed Middle Township. $5.9 million to $384 valuation in the county at $27 million, actually lost almost million . Wilwood. $4 million to $405 L try, nno in ratahlps million; Dennis township, $3.9 million to $223,000 in ratables. ^ ^ Mfly almos( I AFTER OCEAN CITY, the biggest in- million to $37 million; Cape May Point. ' | creases occurred in Sea Isle City, North $593,900 to $52 million; and West Wildwood. and Stone Harbor, with hikes of Wildwood. $458,600 to $28 million. ',,ri V '