Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian’s refusal to sign off on a plan to build a 300-foot raised boardwalk over the marshes in Corson’s Inlet State Park could kill the project.
The state Division of Parks and Forestry had proposed a plan to connect Ocean City streets (West Avenue at 59th Street) with an existing rail trail in the park that dead-ends just 100 yards shy of the south end of the city.
In a 6-1 vote in August (with Councilman Pete Guinosso dissenting), City Council authorized the mayor to co-sign an application for permits to build the narrow boardwalk. The measure would be necessary because Ocean City has rights to “paper streets” that were never constructed — an extension of West Avenue into the park and an extension of 59th Street toward the mainland.
“He chose not to sign it at this time,” said Jim Mallon, assistant to Gillian, on Wednesday.
Mallon said Gillian recognizes strong opinions on both sides of the issue.
“He doesn’t think it’s the right time for that project,” he said.
“We cannot move ahead without access,” state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said Wednesday. “We tried reaching out to the mayor to discuss this but have not heard back.”
Corson’s Inlet State Park is a rare undeveloped tract of beachfront land that occupies the last mile of the island shared by Ocean City. Supporters of the proposed connector boardwalk see an opportunity for increased access to the park and for the completion of a potential loop that would include the rail trail and another trail that runs closer to the beachfront. Opponents say the boardwalk is an unnecessary encroachment on both the environment and the neighborhood nearest the park.
“It doesn’t make sense to me when we already have an entrance to the park at 59th Street and Central Avenue,” Guinosso said in August. “We’re spending taxpayers’ money on something that’s not needed.”
Guinosso argued that the cost and potential environmental damage would outweigh any benefits of the project.
But other council members noted that the cost is entirely the state’s, and that if the allocated money is not spent on Corson’s Inlet State Park, it would go to a different project and not be returned to taxpayers.
The proposed new boardwalk would be located on state park land. Representatives of the state Division of Parks and Forestry visited City Council last year to ask the city “in essence to partner with us.”
The existing rail trail starts at the Corson’s Inlet State Park parking lot on the causeway to Strathmere and travels about one-third of a mile to a dead end about 100 yards from Ocean City streets.
“We’d like to connect our park to the local community,” John Trontis, assistant director of the state Division of Parks and Forestry, said last year. “That’s our goal statewide.”
Trontis showed plans for a disabled-accessible boardwalk that would enter the marshes at 59th Street in a line with the east sidewalk of West Avenue. The boardwalk would turn toward the west to meet the rail trail. Two ramps would bring pedestrians up to the level of the raised rail bed.
Because of the switchbacks and the gravel trail, the new boardwalk is anticipated to be more suited to pedestrians than bicycles.
Instead of traditional pilings, the boardwalk would be supported by helical piers — screw-like piles that would anchor stringers and decking. Water and wildlife would be able to travel under the boardwalk, according to Trontis.
The proposed project would be subject to the “land management review” phase of permitting and would continue with all required Department of Environmental Protection reviews. Those are the permit applications that will not be signed by Gillian.
