By Donald Wittkowski
One of the last things motorists see while leaving Ocean City on the Ninth Street corridor is an abandoned, ramshackle Getty gas station that has a “Sorry, we’re closed” sign in a front window smeared with dust and smudges.
Next door to the hulking Getty site is a muddy lot where a shuttered BP gas station once stood before it was torn down last year after the city bought the property for $475,000.
Taken together, these eyesores hardly create an inviting tableau that would beckon visitors back to town again. But the city is about to embark on a cleanup plan for the Ninth Street gateway that would transform the old gas station sites into landscaped green space.
City Council, at its meeting 7 p.m. Thursday, is scheduled to vote to advertise for construction bids for the landscaping improvements. More information is expected to be released at the meeting about the timetable for completing the projects.
The redevelopment of the former Getty and BP sites is a key part of the city’s strategy to beautify the Ninth Street corridor from the bay to the Boardwalk, creating a far more appealing welcome mat for visitors arriving in town via the Route 52 Causeway bridge.
Mayor Jay Gillian unveiled a proposed $112.2 million, five-year capital plan Tuesday night that includes $2 million in funding in 2017 for land acquisition in the Ninth Street corridor and other parts of the city.
Initially, the city would concentrate on sprucing up an expanse of land stretching from the corner of Ninth Street and Bay Avenue to the base of the Route 52 Causeway bridge. The old gas stations are right in the middle of that area.
After the city bought the old BP property last year, the station’s weather-beaten building and rusting fuel pumps were demolished to clear away the blight. Currently, the site is little more than an empty lot dotted with mud puddles and piles of dirt surrounded by a chain-link fence.
The former Getty site has not yet been purchased by the city, although there are ongoing negotiations to complete the deal.
“I think we’re hopeful we can get it done,” city spokesman Doug Bergen said in an interview Wednesday, declining to divulge any other details while sale talks continue.
As part of the specifications for the landscaping projects, there will be an alternate bid for the Getty property that would allow the city to begin the improvements if it is successful in acquiring the site.
In a Dec. 19 memo attached to Council’s meeting agenda, city engineer Arthur Chew said the landscaping improvements on Ninth Street would be similar to the Mark Soifer Park, which is tucked away in the corner of Ninth Street and Asbury Avenue across the street from City Hall.
Soifer Park, named in honor of the city’s acclaimed former public relations director, is decorated with grass, trees, benches and a brick walkway. A gazebo and an old Ocean City lifeguard boat serve as the centerpieces of the quaint park.
The old BP and Getty sites would offer a much larger swath of land than Soifer Park. The landscaped lots would be elevated by 2 to 3 feet to help protect them from flooding. The project would also include new parking for the adjacent Revere Place, Chew said in his memo.
In addition to the proposed landscaping improvements, a retaining wall would also be built along Ninth Street to allow the city to further elevate the artery for flood protection, Chew said.
The mayor held a town hall meeting in October to gather suggestions from the public on how to give the Ninth Street corridor a facelift. Ideas included open space, new parks, children’s playgrounds, boat slips and a series of environmentally friendly attractions ranging from bird-watching areas to rain gardens.
Still unresolved is what will happen to yet another former gas station site in the heart of the Ninth Street entranceway. The Keller Williams realty firm bought the old Exxon site last year for $500,000 and had planned on redeveloping the property into a new $2 million office building.
However, the city Planning Board rejected the Keller Williams project on Jan. 11 after expressing concerns about traffic flow and parking arrangements. Paul Chiolo, the owner of Keller Williams, said he would talk to his attorney to consider his options in the wake of the Planning Board’s decision.
