City Council clears up rumors about a boardwalk hotel – that’s not even proposed – getting a liquor license
OCEAN CITY — There has been a lot of fear mongering about a large hotel replacing Gillian’s Wonderland Pier and bringing with it alcohol sales to this dry town.
The amusement park has been a boardwalk mainstay for nearly 60 years and is set to close permanently in October.
Both scenarios are unlikely, with multiple hard-to-surmount hurdles, especially for alcohol sales.
This became an issue in the 2022 mayoral election raised by Councilman Keith Hartzell when he unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Mayor Jay Gillian, who took the park over when his father, former mayor Roy Gillian, retired.
Hartzell made the possibility of a high-rise boardwalk hotel that could bring alcohol sales a key part of his failed campaign. He was off council for two years but ran successfully in May to get back on as the Second Ward representative; the ward encompasses Wonderland.
Fears rose anew when Gillian announced in August the park would close for good this fall. Rumors and accusations have swirled around social media about the site, which has been owned by luxury developer Eustace Mita since early 2021.
Mita saved the park by investing in the property after banks foreclosed on $8 million in loans. Mita has not announced his plans for the site, which is zoned for boardwalk amusement use.
Councilman Dave Winslow brought up the issue at Thursday’s City Council meeting. His aim was to let the public know exactly what it would take and who would be responsible for making the changes that could allow alcohol being sold in a resort that has remained dry as part of its historic allure as America’s Greatest Family Resort.
Because Mita owns the property and leased it back to Gillian to keep the amusement park running, part of the rumor mill has been that there is a way that the mayor, a teetotaler, would be behind approving a hotel and alcohol license.
Winslow pointed out a number of erroneous beliefs, while asking city Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson for verification.
One is that a 100-room hotel, if built, would automatically be issued a liquor license. He said that rumor is unfounded and not supported by law.
Liquor licenses are prohibited in Ocean City. The resort has been dry since its founding. The ordinance that currently prohibits alcohol sales is 84-23.
That law would have to be amended by City Council, not the mayor.
New Jersey towns that have liquor licenses base the number of those licenses on population. What is behind the rumor is that a license can be issued over and above a maximum number to a hotel with a minimum of 100 rooms.
“This doesn’t apply to Ocean City because we don’t have liquor licenses,” Winslow said. “The talk of a 100-room hotel automatically getting a liquor license is not grounded in law.”
“Only this City Council, the seven of us, would be able to amend this ordinance,” he said. “I would never amend it as long as I’m around. I would never vote to have alcohol.”
Winslow added the “other chatter going around town” is that the mayor could change the zoning to allow a hotel to be built on the boardwalk.
The boardwalk zone does not allow hotels to be built.
“That change would have to come from this council, not from the mayor,” he said, or the approval of a variance by the zoning board.
“There is no automatic liquor license,” McCrosson said. “There would be several hurdles to get a liquor license for any purpose in Ocean City and it would be this body (City Council) that would have exclusive jurisdiction on it.”
Councilman Jody Levchuk asked whether it would take a 4-3 or 5-2 vote to approve a change allowing liquor licenses and if the mayor could veto it.
McCrosson told him it would be a 4-3 vote and the mayor could veto it and the council could override a veto.
She also made it clear that if the City Council first decided to approve liquor licenses in the resort, it would open up the town to multiple liquor licenses because they would be based on population per state law.
“If you decided to permit liquor licenses, you could issue one to a hotel because we’re not at the maximum number,” she said.
Then McCrosson explained another barrier.
“Another hurdle that would have to be addressed is that most, if not all properties in Ocean City, are deed-restricted against the sale of alcohol as well,” she said.
“There is the zoning, the administrative code and then somebody would have to grapple with the Ocean City Association restriction against the sale of intoxicating liquors,” McCrosson said. “There are a lot of hurdles.”
Hartzell said he is “100 percent against” liquor licenses in the resort and council should take action now so it’s not possible in the future.
Councilman Sean Barnes said he was glad Winslow brought up the issue and noted the hurdles, including building a 100-room hotel in the fist place. He said they shouldn’t “put the cart before the horse.”
“What concerns me on social media is 95 percent of what you hear is not correct,” Barnes added.
“Well said, Sean,” Councilman Tony Polcini said.
Ocean City held a referendum in 2012 that would have allowed BYOB (bring your own bottle of alcohol) in certain restaurants. It was overwhelmingly defeated, 3,137 to 1,425.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
