Crumbling Curb Slated for Repair in Sea Isle

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI There's not much "curb appeal" here. A section of the curb in front of Trinity Community Church in Sea Isle City is so badly deteriorated that it has virtually disappeared. Crumbling bits of grayish concrete that once served as the curb are all that remain next to the church property along Landis Avenue between 85th and 86th streets in the Townsends Inlet section. City Councilman Frank Edwardi said that in August, one motorist drove right up on the sidewalk and illegally parked his car there because there was no curb to stop him. “Between 85th and 86th on Landis Avenue on the west side there is no curb. All summer long you could pull straight off of Landis and go right on the sidewalk,” Edwardi said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Edwardi has been complaining about the dangerous condition for two years, while also warning that Sea Isle could be exposed to liability lawsuits even through Landis Avenue is a county road. Now, he has gotten everyone’s attention. Cape May County plans to repair the broken curb next spring, Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio said. “The 85th to 86th street curb was scheduled to be done when Landis Ave. in that area was going to be paved. The county will now do the curbs when they do all other curb repairs in the county and that will be in May,” Desiderio said in a text message Saturday. The broken curb runs along Landis Avenue next to Trinity Community Church. After Edwardi demanded at the Council meeting that the county should fix the deteriorated curb, Desiderio assured him that “we’ll get it done.” Desiderio also serves on the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the governing body that oversees county government. “If we don’t get it done, I’m telling you, we’re going to get sued,” Edwardi said. Edwardi also warned of the possibility of lawsuits stemming from a cracked sidewalk on Central Avenue, near 48th Street, in front of the Sea Isle branch of the Cape May County Library. “I don’t know if it’s a city issue or a county issue, because it’s a county library and the sidewalk’s cracked,” he said. “Someone’s going to walk their dog, stub their toe and we’re going to be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars. Handle it any way you want, but I’m telling you. I’ve been telling you for two years.” In his text Saturday, Desiderio said the city will repair the cracked sidewalk near the library. He noted that this was the first time he had heard of both the cracked sidewalk and the broken curb in front of the church. But he stressed that they would be fixed. “Both problems solved,” he said. The cracked sidewalk is visible to the right of the Cape May County Library sign overlooking Central Avenue near 48th Street. Half of Landis Avenue in front of Trinity Community Church between 85th and 86th streets in a no-parking zone, Desiderio said. With virtually no curb left, the sidewalk blends right in with Landis Avenue next to the church property. Only a few feet separate the road from the church itself. “It’s very unattractive. It’s all crumbling and messy,” Chuck Swanson, who serves as pastor of Trinity Community Church, said of the broken curb. The quaint church has been a fixture on the corner of Landis Avenue and 85th Street since 1923. Trinity has undergone a series of improvements to the interior and exterior in recent years, including a new coat of white paint to make the outside glisten. The church conducts nondenominational Sunday services during the summer tourism season, but closes for the rest of the year. Swanson said in an interview Saturday that the church has never had any accidents or other trouble related to the deteriorated curb. But he noted that he contacted the county a few years ago in hopes of getting the curb repaired. He said he was told by the county that certain “construction issues” could result in the church being held partly responsible for the curb’s repair, potentially costing thousands of dollars. “That’s not something we have the resources to do. It would be thousands and thousands of dollars,” he said, adding that the church did not pursue having the curb redone. Swanson, though, was encouraged when he heard that Edwardi is demanding that the county should make repairs. “I hope they can convince the county to fix the curb,” Swanson said. The sidewalk and road blend together on this section of Landis Avenue because there is no curb.