Boardwalk subcommittee to present findings to public in February

A City Council-appointed subcommittee will hold a public information meeting to present its findings so far as it continues to study the zoning requirements for the commercial districts of the Boardwalk.

The meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 7, at 10 a.m. in the Chris Maloney Lecture Hall at the Ocean City Free Public Library, 1735 Simpson Ave.

The nine-member Boardwalk subcommittee will provide an update on its research and findings to date.

Recommendations for changes to zoning or other suggested enhancements to the Boardwalk will not be presented at the meeting. Those recommendations will be provided at a future date, the city said in a statement Tuesday announcing the meeting.

No formal action will be taken.

The subcommittee was formed in October by Council President Terry Crowley Jr. – prompted by controversy over a proposed $150 million luxury hotel that developer Eustace Mita wants to build on the former Wonderland Pier amusement park site on the Boardwalk.

Mita, who owns the Wonderland property, has been urging city officials to declare the site as an area “in need of rehabilitation” to help speed up development of the hotel.

He is seeking the rehabilitation designation to create a legal pathway for him to develop his project in an area of the Boardwalk that currently does not allow hotel construction.

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

In a crucial vote at a meeting on Jan. 7, Ocean City’s planning board rejected a resolution to declare the Wonderland site in need of rehabilitation. The board’s vote was deadlocked at 4-4, dealing a major setback in Mita’s attempts to build his 252-room hotel on the vacant Wonderland property.

The four planning board members who voted no, including Chairman John Loeper, said they felt that the Wonderland site did not meet the legal criteria for rehabilitation status.

In December, Council voted 4-3 to ask the planning board to consider recommending the Wonderland property for rehabilitation. Council has the power to reverse the planning board’s decision or pursue a different zoning process for Wonderland’s redevelopment.

While debate continues on the rehabilitation issue, the subcommittee is conducting a comprehensive study of the zoning requirements for the entire Boardwalk’s commercial areas instead of just concentrating on the former Wonderland site.

Its mission is to take a holistic approach in reviewing the Boardwalk’s commercial zoning requirements in concert with the city’s master plan.

Councilman Dave Winslow, who chairs the Boardwalk subcommittee, said the group has been meeting every two weeks.

“This is a data-driven process. We’ve taken the emotion out of it,” Winslow said during the Jan. 8 meeting of City Council. “All nine members are attending every meeting and collecting a lot of data. We want to share the information we have so far.”

"We’re not going to have recommendations at this meeting, but we’re going to show you what we’ve found, and some of the things are going to surprise everyone,” he added about the subcommittee information session on Feb. 7.

    Councilman Dave Winslow chairs an advisory subcommittee that is studying the zoning needs for the Boardwalk's commercial areas.