Ocean City Land to Get $1 Million Makeover

Let’s face it, there’s really no other way to describe it except as a dirt lot. An ugly dirt lot, at that.

However, Ocean City is planning to give a $1 million makeover to a large piece of land at 16th Street and Haven Avenue in time for the summer.

Mayor Jay Gillian has repeatedly apologized to the public for the property’s rundown appearance while the city prepares to spruce it up with new curbs, sidewalks, parking and sod.

The city is discussing much grander, long-term plans for the land, but for now it simply wants to make it look presentable to the public for the summer.

“This work will let the public use this area for the summer. Then we’ll work on a long-term plan using ideas submitted by the public,” Gillian said in a statement.

City Council is expected to award a $1 million construction contract at its meeting Thursday night for short-term improvements, including $116,000 worth of new sod. Lexa Concrete Inc. of Hammonton submitted the lowest competitive bid among seven companies that sought the contract.

The property is among three sites the city acquired through eminent domain to create a full block of land bordered by Haven and Simpson avenues between 16th and 17th streets, next to the Ocean City Community Center.

The land will be added to a corridor of open space protected from dense housing construction. The city plans to dedicate a five-block area from 15th Street to 20th Street to open space and public use.

“I think it’s just a great testament to what we’ve been doing,” Gillian said during a town hall meeting in October about the city’s overall goal of preserving open space for the public.

    With the public's help, the city is beginning to consider ideas for converting the property into a community centerpiece.
  

Next up, the city must decide its long-range plans for the property. Last year, the city solicited ideas from the public on ways to transform the land.

Suggestions from the public varied widely but fell roughly into three categories: open space and passive recreation, including features such as trails, gardens, fountains and amphitheaters; active recreation, including attractions such as an outdoor pool, skating rink, pickleball courts or fields; and practical uses such as additional parking or affordable housing.

Gillian said the city plans to hire an architect at some point to help craft a long-term vision for the land.

In the meantime, the city will beautify the property in time for the summer season by building new sidewalks and curbs, planting sod and creating some additional parking for the adjacent Community Center.

In 2023, the city finally wrapped up a lengthy legal battle with the private owners of the property next to the Community Center by agreeing to pay $20 million for the land. Using its power of eminent domain, the city acquired the land in 2021 from Klause Enterprises to preserve it as open space after brothers Jerry and Harry Klause proposed to develop the site for housing construction.

The city originally sought to buy the Klause land for $9 million. However, the case went to court over the value of the land. In October 2023, a jury decided that the city should pay Klause Enterprises nearly $17.9 million for the property. Interest payments on top of the nearly $17.9 million pushed the total amount to $20 million.

    The former Perry-Egan Chevrolet dealership showroom has since been demolished.
  

The property was best known as the former site of the Perry-Egan auto dealership. The city’s main objective in acquiring the land was to stop the site from being densely developed. At one point, the Klause brothers proposed building 22 single-family homes on the land.

Also part of the large tract of land is property at 16th Street and Haven Avenue and at 109 16th Street that the city acquired from Palmer Center LLC, a company owned by John Flood, a developer and a former councilman.

The city initially offered to pay Palmer Center $5.6 million for the land, but both sides ended up in court while fighting over the final price. A jury ruled in January that the city must pay $7.2 million.