OUR POSITION
WE LOVE ATLANTIC CITY! We love the hustle and bustle. We love the beach festivals, the activity, the creativity and the movement. We love that it’s non-conventional. We love that things move forward. We support this town for everything it is. But, this is the 5th Ward. We’re in a residential area. We are families, churches, small businesses and schools. This is the Southern edge of the boardwalk. And while we love all that’s happening in Atlantic City, this is not the right place for massive festivals. Why? Because this is residential. And because there’s an entire boardwalk and beach without a residential component (areas with casinos, busy shops and no issue for anyone) that could have been chosen. To put it bluntly, the 5th Ward Chelsea District is a residential area. It’s a family friendly, mostly residential part of the city and boardwalk. The adult-only BRT event was previously North of the Pier (2024). See photos of previous BRT Weekend festival and the Beach Bar HERE. This is not the right area for large scale festivals and a beach bar of this size. The Chelsea / Cocorico Beach Bar has already gotten truckloads of complaints because of noise violations, parking violations, liquor license violations, excessive trash and unruly disruptions.
In April 2025, we filed a lawsuit. There’s a bunch of press about this.
BEACH BAR EXPANSION VIOLATIONS
The Chelsea Beach Bar (which has since changed their name to Cocorico Beach Bar), is an open air nightclub. It has been an issue in the community for years. In 2024, the bar submitted plans to expand into a larger area that will impact residential units even more. Residents have been putting up a fight. See Press
Here's an overview of Violations and Issues with the Beach Bar (All Recorded). See some Violation Photos here
Lease Violations
Illegal Parking Violations
Settlement Agreement Violations
Trash Violations
Un-permitted Use Violations
Liquor License Violations
Excessive Construction (not permitted)
Signage Violations
Noise Violations (N.J.A.C. 7:29)
Over Occupancy Violations
Non Removal of Temporary Structures (10/31) - Never Removed
Insurance Violations (underinsured per City & DEP requirements)
Loitering Violations
Lack of Security
And there are even more issues (too many to list). CLICK HERE to see Beach Bar photos and last year’s BRT Weekend festival located in a different part of the boardwalk.
BRT WEEKEND FESTIVAL ISSUES
WHAT IS BRT WEEKEND? BRT Weekend is a 20K+ person Caribbean festival that travels to different cities.
WHAT HAPPENED? BRT Weekend occurred previously in Atlantic City in the hub of the beach and boardwalk, near all of the action. It was an appropriate part of Atlantic City for the magnitude of attendees and the late-night afterparties (noise). In early spring of 2025, the event was approved to take place in the Chelsea District. It’s in the 5th Ward… a residential part of the boardwalk. The festival website began selling tickets before the public was notified.
WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM? - This year’s BRT Weekend has been approved in the 5th Ward. It happened outside of the regular city process, violating city and state laws. Residents found out about this via a published ticket sales link, that included upgrades after parties into the early AM. You can buy upgraded tickets for the after parties. This is in direct violation with the city and state. Many of the standard legal documents have not been made available to the public (as of 4/5/2025) including Special Events Certificate, Public Safety Plans, EMS plan, Fire Plan, Event Licensing, Insurance, Bathrooms and more.
OPEN RECORDS REQUEST: A recent open records request to the city revealed a one million dollar primary policy and NO umbrella policy. Not for any of the required coverages.Will there be compliance with insurance for the upcoming concerts on the same beach occupied by Cocorico? Is additional insurance mandated for the same coverages and for the food service anticipated? Taxpayers need to have these questions answered now. We don’t want to be holding the bag for lax enforcement by the city.
NOISE: In New Jersey, noise regulations for the state of NJ are outlined in N.J.A.C. 7:29, which establishes sound level limits for both daytime (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and nighttime (10 p.m. to 7 a.m.) hours, with specific exemptions for certain activities. Without warning, we found the BRT festival without any notice and a change of location to the Chelsea District / 5th Ward. The current beach bar (small not caps) has “after hours” events that are in direct violation of the laws, an open air nightclub until 3,4,5 AM.
How did this happen? Why this location? The BRT Festival didn’t follow standard Atlantic City protocols. None of the following has been transparent. It happened overnight.
Where are the documents that have been presented to the public? Where is the special event certificate or approval? Where is the public safety plan? EMS plan? fire safety plan? evacuation plan? security plan? what about parking? food purveyors? licensing for the event? liquor license? trash removal? water supply? bathrooms? liability insurance? responsibility for potential damage? sanitation plan for 3-days and 3-nights of 25,000 people? sales tax certificate for the event? luxury tax certificate for the event? where is the stage going to be set up? do they have a permit to bring heavy equipment on Texas or Albany the only 2 heavy weight approved areas to enter the beach? where are the tech trucks being set up? where are the dumpsters being positioned?
Should this event happen, the residents of the 5th Ward can expect to lose access to their beachfront for at least 10 days - set up, event, removal!
Atlantic City has good reason to be concerned about whether it is sufficiently protected from liability from the upcoming BRT concerts taking place on the Cocorico /Chelsea Beach Bar lots. The present lease for the Cocorico requires an umbrella policy with four million of excess coverage for liquor liability AND general liability AND automobile liability.
CLICK HERE to see promos for the BRT Weekend (located in a different part of AC, previously) and Beach Bar photos.