It would consider referring boardwalk property to Planning Board to decide if it is ‘area in need of rehabilitation’
OCEAN CITY — At next Thursday’s City Council meeting, members will consider a resolution that could affect whether Eustace Mita’s plan for a 252-room hotel at the former Wonderland Pier amusement park site may have a chance to move forward.
However, they will not be voting on any development at the site and Mita will not be making a presentation at the meeting.
According to a press released issued Thursday afternoon on behalf of City Council President Terry Crowley Jr., on the agenda of the Aug. 21 meeting is consideration of a resolution asking the resort’s Planning Board for its recommendation to designate the 600 Boardwalk property as an “area in need of rehabilitation.”
Mita, a luxury home developer and hotelier, purchased the Wonderland site on that property in early 2021, preserving it from foreclosure. He leased it back to owner Jay Gillian, Ocean City’s mayor, who continued to operate the amusement park through last year. Gillian announced last August that he would close the park for good after nearly 60 years in October 2024.
Mita has wanted the designation as a step to allow him to move forward with his plan for the eight-story hotel that would include about a dozen storefronts.
There has been considerable opposition from neighbors and from citizen’s groups that have formed to stop a hotel there. (See related stories on ocnjsentinel.com.)
Current zoning does not allow high-rise hotels on the boardwalk.
Crowley’s release notes that City Council will not discuss or consider approval of any type of development for the site at the meeting and no presentation is planned. Mita had said that he wanted to make a presentation on his hotel plan before City Council in August.
Crowley’s release states the designation as an “area in need of rehabilitation” would not change the zoning standards for the property “or result in any development approvals for the site, or be based upon any specific project to be constructed in the future.”
The release goes on to say “any project to be developed on this site would still require Planning Board or Zoning Board approval; and the designation would be based upon the current condition of the property.”
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall.
Crowley’s release also included a summary of the “extensive process for any potential designation of a property as an ‘area in need of rehabilitation.’” It was prepared by City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson. McCrosson’s summary follows:
DESIGNATION OF A PROPERTY AS AN AREA IN NEED OF REHABILITATION
I. Is The Property in Question an “Area in Need of Rehabilitation”?
A. Criteria Set Forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-14
1. A significant portion of structures therein are in a deteriorated or substandard condition;
2. More than half of the housing stock in the delineated area is at least 50 years old;
3. There is a pattern of vacancy, abandonment or underutilization of properties in the area;
4. There is a persistent arrearage of property tax payments on properties in the area;
5. Environmental contamination discouraging improvements and investment in properties in the area; or
6. A majority of the water and sewer infrastructure in the delineated area is at least 50 years old and is in need of repair or substantial maintenance.
7. Where warranted by consideration of the overall conditions and requirements of the community, a finding of need for rehabilitation may extend to the entire area of a municipality
B. Procedure for Council to Declare a Property to be an Area in Need of Rehabilitation
1. City Council adopts a resolution (the “Referral Resolution”) referring to the Planning Board a proposed form of resolution declaring the property to be an area in need of rehabilitation (the “Declaration Resolution”).
2. Planning Board reviews the proposed Declaration Resolution and submits its recommendations to City Council within 45 days of receipt of the Referral Resolution. If the Planning Board does not submit its recommendations to City Council within 45 days, City Council may adopt the Declaration Resolution with or without modification, or may decline to adopt it.
3. If City Council adopts the Declaration Resolution, the property is thereby designated an Area in Need of Rehabilitation.
Note: The designation as an Area in Need of Rehabilitation does not approve any specific project or development for the property, nor does it change the zoning requirements for the property. If City Council does not approve a Redevelopment Plan for this Area, any development on the site must comply with the Zoning Ordinance unless variances are granted.
THE NEXT STEP: ADOPTION OF A REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
If the property were designated as an Area in Need of Rehabilitation, the adoption of a “Redvelopment Plan” by ordinance would establish the land use controls for the Area in Need of Rehabilitation. In essence, the Redevelopment Plan becomes the Zoning Ordinance for the Area. An ordinance adopting the Redevelopment Plan may be considered after a consistency review by the Planning Board.
The Redevelopment Plan would reflect the specific development or project to be constructed in the Rehabilitation area.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff