From left, Mayor Jay Gillian, Councilman Keith Hartzell and Council Vice President Pete Madden debate each other heading into the May 12 mayoral election.
All three candidates in the Ocean City mayoral race called for compromise in the hot-button issue that has divided the town for more than a year – a proposed luxury hotel on the Boardwalk in place of the former Wonderland Pier amusement park.
Mayor Jay Gillian and his opponents, Keith Hartzell and Pete Madden, addressed the hotel controversy during a 75-minute debate Tuesday night leading up to the May 12 municipal election.
Developer Eustace Mita, who owns the former Wonderland Pier property, has proposed building an upscale 252-room hotel on the Boardwalk at Sixth Street.
The estimated $150 million project remains in limbo amid disagreement over the hotel’s possible impacts – positive and negative – on the Boardwalk, the surrounding neighborhoods and the local economy.
At some point in the future, City Council is expected to decide whether to declare the former Wonderland property as an area “in need of rehabilitation” to help speed up its redevelopment – as a hotel or possibly some other type of project.
Gillian said during the debate that the hotel controversy should have already been resolved.
“It’s simple: this should have already been taken care of because there are already policies and procedures in place. Again, the owner and the Council need to get into a room and figure it out. If they would have done that from the beginning, we would not be sitting here talking about this, and it wouldn’t have divided the city so much,” Gillian said.
Gillian added, “Strong leadership would have taken care of that.”
Gillian and his family had owned and operated the Wonderland site since 1965. Mita bought the property in 2021 for a reported $14 million to save it from a sheriff’s auction after Gillian defaulted on an $8 million mortgage. Gillian continued to operate Wonderland after Mita’s purchase, but closed the amusement park in October 2024 after years of financial difficulties.
An architectural rendering depicts the proposed resort hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk.Hartzell, who currently represents the Second Ward on City Council, said that his “first order of business” if he is elected mayor would be to work on the hotel project through negotiations and compromise, while ultimately looking to build a consensus in the community.
“600 Boardwalk is something that has divided our town,” Hartzell said, referring to the address of the former Wonderland site. “And that’s OK, because when a town’s divided, we’ll get together and compromise and find consensus.”
“That’s what I’ve been working on when I go door-to-door talking to people about what they would be looking for and what should go up there and matches our town, protects our neighborhoods and makes us feel like Ocean City. The most important thing to me is to come together as a unit, to make something work up there for everyone, that everyone has a voice in it, and everybody has a part in it, so we can all be proud of it,” he continued.
Hartzell characterized a luxury hotel as a “great idea,” but also indicated that he would be in favor of a smaller, boutique-style hotel than what Mita has proposed.
“I think we can find other businesses that can be destination businesses. But at the same time, a luxury hotel would be a great idea. And I think that the important thing is to put more of a boutique hotel in the back as a luxury hotel and with amenities,” Hartzell said.
Madden, who currently serves as City Council’s vice president, strongly stated his support for the hotel, but also underscored what he believes is the need for a compromise plan with Mita.
“To be crystal clear, we need to build that hotel,” Madden said. “We need to work with the person who owns the property to get the best solution for what the people in this town want. We have a proven brand that’s coming to our community looking to invest a tremendous amount of capital.”
“But we have to get together to see what’s the best way to do that – negotiate that out. We need to get to a redevelopment zone so that we have flexibility within the zoning and then we can sit down with the property owner to get the best solution for Ocean City. But it’s imperative that we move forward sooner than later to do that,” Madden added.
Hundreds of people sit in the Ocean City Tabernacle auditorium to watch the debate.While the hotel project remains stuck in neutral, Mita has said that he has received offers from two parties that are interested in buying the former Wonderland Pier site to build townhomes.
The rehabilitation or redevelopment designation for the Wonderland site – if approved by City Council – would trigger a process that could possibly lead to a zoning change to permit Mita’s hotel at the property.
Currently, the city’s zoning laws do not allow hotel construction in that section of the Boardwalk.
There is no guarantee that a hotel will be built or even given final approval, but the rehabilitation process does create a legal pathway for the project.
Meanwhile, the debate also touched on other key issues in the city, including zoning, property taxes, the rising cost of housing, parking, tourism, beach replenishment and construction projects.
Fideri News Network, the parent company of OCNJDaily.com and other affiliated news sites in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, sponsored the debate in partnership with the Ocean City Tabernacle.
Hundreds of people sat in the Tabernacle auditorium to watch the debate. The Tabernacle livestreamed the debate, which was carried on BreakingAC's Youtube channel. A replay can be viewed on the same channel.
