Hotel debate dominates City Council meeting

A tense City Council meeting Thursday night sparked more community debate about a proposed $150 million luxury hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk, and also included the surprise announcement from a councilman that he will not seek re-election.

Less than three hours before the meeting’s start time of 6 p.m., city officials announced they were moving the location from City Hall to the large lecture room at the Ocean City Free Public Library to accommodate what was expected to be a big turnout.

When the meeting got underway, the lecture room was virtually packed. Many of those in attendance were supporters of the Boardwalk hotel that has been proposed in place of the defunct Wonderland Pier amusement park.

A parade of prominent business leaders maintained that the hotel project is needed to help sustain the city’s tourism industry and boost the local business community.

Early in the meeting, Councilman Tony Polcini surprised the audience by revealing he will not run for re-election in the 2026 race. Polcini first won election in 2022 and is serving his first term as a councilman at-large.

Pausing at times to collect his emotions, Polcini said he would not seek another four-year term on the governing body because he wanted to do what would be best for his family.

“Thank you all for listening, and I love you all,” he told the audience members.

    Councilman Tony Polcini, seated next to Council member Sean Barnes, reads from a statement while announcing his decision not to seek re-election in 2026.
  

Before making his announcement, Polcini spent a few minutes defending the Council members from some of the personal attacks made against them stemming from the ongoing debate over the Wonderland hotel. He repeatedly said that Council has always been transparent with the pubic in its discussions about the project.

“I’m just speaking from the heart, and speaking the truth,” he said.

Polcini said he simply couldn’t understand the level of anger and disrespect directed at the Council members as they continue to discuss the best options to redevelop the Wonderland property at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk.

The contentious issue has deeply divided the city among hotel supporters and local community groups that want to see Wonderland redeveloped into some type of family-friendly amusement attraction.

On Aug. 21, Council dealt the hotel what appeared to be a death blow by rejecting a resolution that would have asked the city’s planning board to consider designating the Wonderland site as an area “in need of rehabilitation.” Such a designation would have helped to pave the way for the project’s development.

Vice President Pete Madden was the only Council member on Aug. 21 to vote in favor of the Wonderland resolution. He proposed an identical resolution at the Sept. 25 Council meeting, but the measure was tabled indefinitely by a 5-1 vote. Madden cast the lone dissenting vote then because he didn't want to table the resolution.

Hotel opponents accused Madden of trying to stage a "sneak attack" by proposing the resolution at the last minute at the Sept. 25 meeting, although City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said Madden had every right as a councilman to do so.

Hotel developer Eustace Mita, who owns the Wonderland property, originally had sought the rehabilitation designation to build a 252-room luxury resort in an area of the Boardwalk currently not zoned for hotel development.

After Council turned down his request on Aug. 21, Mita announced he would scrap the "ICONA in Wonderland" hotel project and put the Wonderland property up for sale for $25 million. He recently revealed that he has received at least two offers for the property from companies wanting to build townhomes on the site – another type of development currently not allowed on the Boardwalk by the city’s zoning laws.

    An architectural rendering depicts the proposed "ICONA in Wonderland" resort hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
  

Instead of embracing Mita’s suggestion to consider declaring the Wonderland property in need of rehabilitation, Council has decided to undertake a comprehensive review of the entire Boardwalk’s zoning as part of the city’s master plan process.

Council President Terry Crowley Jr. announced at Thursday’s meeting that he has formed a subcommittee to study the Boardwalk’s zoning in the commercial areas between Fifth and 14th streets. The subcommittee will collaborate with the entire Council and the planning board, while guided by the master plan.

“I think this is how we move the city forward by embracing other people’s thoughts,” Crowley said of how the subcommittee will also work with the public to build consensus.

Members of the subcommittee include Council members Dave Winslow, Jody Levchuk and Sean Barnes. Other subcommittee members are planning board member Dean Adams, Mike Allegretto, aide to Mayor Jay Gillian, Wes Kazmarck, president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association, and Jim Kelly, president of the community group Ocean City 2050.

In an interview after the meeting, Crowley said he has asked two other people to join the subcommittee, but declined to name them at this time. He noted that he would like to have an architect on the subcommittee.

Crowley emphasized that he wants the subcommittee to move with the greatest speed possible to study the Boardwalk’s development “potential” and make recommendations while working with the planning board.

“What are the possibilities? What are the opportunities?” he said in the interview.

    City Council President Terry Crowley Jr. announces his formation of a subcommittee to study the zoning for the Boardwalk's commercial areas.
  

However, business leaders and hotel supporters who packed the meeting urged Council to instead take a new vote on Mita’s request to declare the Wonderland site in need of rehabilitation. Mita attended the meeting, but did not speak before leaving.

Kazmarck, although he is a member of Crowley’s subcommittee, read from a letter by the Boardwalk Merchants Association urging the Council members to take a revote. The letter expressed the Boardwalk Merchants Association’s disappointment in Council’s Aug. 21 vote not to ask the planning board to recommend granting the Wonderland site the rehabilitation status.

Kazmarck said the Boardwalk merchants believe that a new vote “is absolutely necessary.” He told Council that if the hotel is not built, it could close down a critical opportunity to generate more tourism and tax revenue for the city.

Caitlin Quirk, president of the Downtown Merchants Association, characterized the hotel project as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to help the business community and tourism industry.

“You risk losing everything that keeps the city afloat,” Quirk said of the consequences of Ocean City not getting the hotel.

She also expressed concern that the Wonderland site could remain vacant for up to 10 years if the city embarks on a lengthy study of the property as part of the master plan review.

“Frankly, the idea that we can simply fix this with the master plan, to put it politely, is wishful thinking. That path is to leave this property sitting vacant for five to 10 years. And if that happens, every business in Ocean City will pay the price – not just in lost opportunity, but in reputation. It sends a message that we are closed for business and that Ocean City has nothing new to offer,” Quirk said.

    Caitlin Quirk, president of the Downtown Merchants Association, reads from her statement urging support for the Boardwalk hotel project.
  

Janet Galante, vice president of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, also spoke in support of the hotel, calling it an important step in sustaining the vitality of the business community.

“The Chamber believes that responsible redevelopment is essential to preserving the community’s economic vitality and maintaining Ocean City’s position as America’s Greatest Family Resort,” Galante said, referring to the city’s tourism slogan.

Chuck Bangle, owner of the Manco & Manco pizzerias on the Boardwalk, said the northern end of the Boardwalk, where Wonderland once stood, has been “dead” since the amusement park closed down.

“We need people at that end of the Boardwalk,” Bangle told Council.

One by one, other business owners in both the downtown and on the Boardwalk also urged Council to take a revote on the rehabilitation designation for the Wonderland site, arguing that the city’s economic future depends on the hotel.

“Time is not on our side,” said Mark Raab, whose family owns a group of businesses and amusements on the Boardwalk.

Despite its rich history, the iconic Wonderland Pier closed in October 2024 following years of financial struggles. Wonderland had been owned by Mayor Jay Gillian and his family before Mita bought the amusement park in 2021 to save it from a sheriff’s auction. Gillian continued to operate Wonderland’s rides before shutting down the park last year.

    Wonderland Pier's sprawling facade overlooks the Boardwalk at Sixth Street.
  

Ever since Wonderland’s closing, debate has raged whether the property should be redeveloped by Mita into a luxury hotel or be transformed into some type of family-friendly amusement attraction.

Although they were outnumbered at Thursday night’s meeting, opponents of the hotel urged Council to continue studying the future of the Wonderland site through a comprehensive master plan review process – as well as Crowley’s newly formed subcommittee.

Jim Kelly, president of the community group Ocean City 2050 and now a member of Crowley’s subcommittee, expressed hope that hotel supporters and opponents will finally reach “a lightbulb moment” and look to compromise.

“This approach is holistic,” Kelly said of the subcommittee process. “It recognizes that the Boardwalk is not just one property or one project, but a connected ecosystem of amusements, lodging, dining, family traditions, and small businesses.”

Ocean City 2050 has been an outspoken opponent of the hotel, believing it would overwhelm the surrounding neighborhoods and not fit in with the city’s family-friendly atmosphere.

Bill Merritt, another leader of Ocean City 2050, also urged the Council members to continue following the master plan process for Wonderland’s future development.

“That may very well be a compromise between the two positions that have sometimes been viewed as dominating this debate – a big hotel or no hotel. And it could be the right idea not because it’s a compromise, but more so because it may be economically and strategically the right thing to do,” Merritt said.

    Wonderland Pier's iconic Ferris wheel remains idle following the amusement park's closing in October 2024.
  

Helen Struckmann, a leader of the anti-hotel group Save Wonderland, read a copy of a letter from commercial developer Jim McCallion that said he plans to partner with Save Wonderland “to buy, rebuild and revitalize the old Wonderland Pier.”

McCallion also said in the letter that he plans to make a public presentation in the future to outline exactly what he and Save Wonderland want to build.

“We are currently working on our architectural renderings and in negotiations with award-winning restaurateurs, events bookings, conference bookings, shops and amusement operators. We are even exploring a culinary arts school as one of the featured elements,” McCallion wrote.

Struckmann said in an interview that everything McCallion and Save Wonderland are considering for the Wonderland site is fully compliant with the city’s zoning laws. She added that the development would not include a hotel or any housing construction.

In his letter, McCallion said he has been a developer for more than 40 years, building large projects such as hospitals, shopping malls and big-box stores.

He once owned the former Crown Bank building at 801 Asbury Ave. in downtown Ocean City, but lost it in 2023 during bankruptcy proceedings. The building now functions as an office complex and as a retail hub known as The Shoppes at Asbury.

The city recently flirted with the idea of buying the former Crown Bank building to serve as the new headquarters for the police department, but decided it would be too expensive to make renovations.