Friends of OCNJ History & Culture hosts forum at Tabernacle Baptist
OCEAN CITY — The Icona at Wonderland proposal would be bad for the boardwalk and bad for Ocean City.
That’s what members of a group formed to fight the boardwalk high-rise hotel and another to save the iconic Wonderland Pier told those gathered Nov. 30 at Tabernacle Baptist Church.
Friends of OCNJ History & Culture and Save Wonderland hosted the forum, asking “What’s your vision for the Ocean City boardwalk in 2050?”
Throughout nearly two hours of testimony from multiple speakers, the sentiment was decidedly against the plan posed by property owner Eustace Mita for a $135 million to $150 million hotel with 252 rooms and 375 parking spaces.
The meeting agenda was listed as “fate of Wonderland, our boardwalk and the island to be discussed.” Topics covered included:
— the current situation
— what drives a vibrant boardwalk
— why the proposal is the wrong solution
— why it relies on the wrong process
— ‘A Better Way Forward’
Bill Merritt, among the founders of Friends of OCNJ, opened the meeting with an overview of the project.
“We are here because Eustace Mita wants to build a large hotel on a site restricted to amusements — something he knew when he bought it. So the city needs to decide whether to grant him that right,” Merritt said. “This is a pretty important moment in the boardwalk’s history.”
Mita is proposing a redevelopment agreement with the city that would supersede local zoning, allowing for construction of a high-rise hotel where one is not permitted. That process involves having the property deemed in need of rehabilitation, which is used mainly in urban areas deemed blighted.
“This is the wrong project and his approach is dangerous,” Merritt said. “This must be stopped.”
Merritt said the group had solicited input from multiple stakeholders and professionals in various fields while creating its presentation.
He said many question why the community is involved in a decision about a private property.
“If the developer wanted to build something that conforms to the zoning, none of us would be here,” Merritt said. “That’s his right and we would have no involvement at all.”
However, he said, what Mita wants to do is build something that is not permitted at that location.
“Because it is not permitted, he needs permission to build something different than what the zoning requires and he is asking to do it by a process that is different than the typical process. It becomes, then, a public process. We are here to advise council on how they should think about that,” he said.
Pete Voudouris, president of the Flanders Hotel, discussed the city’s economic conditions and state of lodging on the island. He has 20 years of experience not only operating but reviving and restoring the historic property, which had faced bankruptcy and the possibility of closing for good.
Voudouris discussed the characteristics that have made Ocean City a popular destination for decades, noting its family-friendly nature, affordability and accessibility.
He said the Flanders is the largest lodging facility on the island and one of the largest employers.
“I think I have a pretty good idea of what has occurred over the last 20 years and what the trends are moving forward,” Voudouris said.
He said Mita’s approach is based on faulty reasoning that the island is changing, having lost many of its hotels that he sees as critical to tourism, and the solution is to build a new hotel.
Voudouris said the group has spoken to many hotel owners and “they do not believe there is a shortage of hotel rooms.”
He said the market has evolved and short-term rentals have replaced hotels as the preferred accommodation.
“So we have adequate supply of lodging offerings at different price points,” he said, noting the number of visitors also has declined. “We don’t have a supply problem; we have a demand problem.”
Voudouris said the boardwalk has lost one of its most iconic landmarks and that most certainly will hurt tourism.
“We need attractions, a viable and entertaining boardwalk to bring the middle class back,” Voudouris said.
He said the hotel would not have nearly enough parking, noting the Flanders needs 1.4 spots per room. With 252 rooms, the Icona at Wonderland would need 353 spots just for guests.
“He will need every single spot for his hotel guests,” Voudouris said.
While Mita has proposed 375 spots, Voudouris said the plan does not account for employees — the Flanders has 125 for 100 rooms and the Icona would need more than 200 — or special event guests who are not staying at the hotel.
Voudouris said only 20 percent of their wedding attendees stay at the hotel, leaving 80 percent to find their own parking.
“Parking and traffic down that part of the city is going to be a major issue,” he said.
Brian Lihou, a longtime island resident and owner of the Genevieve, a restored home on Wesley Avenue, talked about what makes a vibrant boardwalk.
“I was away for about 20 years, not sure I would ever come home, but I knew that when I came home it would be the town that I left,” he said, noting he has been back about 2.5 years and is “impressed how the city conducts itself.”
Lihou said the city has great and plentiful restaurants, a variety of retail shops and a “design aesthetic that is very unique.”
“Ocean City has maintained that integrity since I was a little boy, and the people who run it should be applauded,” he said.
The constant is the town’s family-friendly atmosphere centered on its ban of alcohol sales.
“People come here for the town that we created — the local feeling is unlike any other up and down the coast,” Lihou said.
The boardwalk has traditionally been anchored by amusement parks — “we’re fortunate to have had Wonderland as long as we did” — encouraging people to walk between the destinations and exposing them to all of the other shops.
“It is essential that we look at how the boardwalk is used,” he said, noting Wonderland drew thousands of people daily in the summer months.“It exemplifies what we would like to see in the boardwalk going forward.”
Merritt said the hotel proposal does not meet the city’s need for an attraction open to all, saying resorts are designed to capture vacationers and keep them, not send them out to spend money on the boardwalk — which he called “nine blocks of impulse purchases.”
“It would function in the complete opposite manner than Wonderland,” he said. “It would also not attract day-trippers.”
Merritt said it’s also way too big, at between eight and nine stories compared with the average home on Plaza Place that is just 2.5 stories. It would block the sun, casting shadows on the neighborhood until after 2 p.m., and “the shadows, traffic and parking would crush the local neighborhoods.”
“It’s not appropriate for that part of the boardwalk,” he said.
Attorney Jim Turteltaub discussed the process that Mita seeks to use to build the hotel, calling redevelopment just one tool in the tool box.
He said the major issue that must be addressed is, “once you take down the amusement park, one of the things that draws families to this community, what goes in its place and how does that impact everything else?” Turteltaub said.
He said the future of the site should be decided as part of a holistic approach using the master plan and current zoning.
“Redevelopment is focused on only one property while every other property in town is dependent on how that property is used,” he said. “People are going to choose between here, Cape May, Atlantic City, wherever else they may be choosing. What’s going to make them come here to Ocean City?”
Turtelbaum said redevelopment is meant for blighted properties, those detracting from the community that are a detriment to health, safety and welfare. He questioned whether the Wonderland property represents that even closed.
“I don’t think anyone here believes that Wonderland is blighted,” Merritt said.
He believes declaring the property blighted would open the door to every other property owner seeking to have their property deemed blighted so they can build a resort hotel.
“The big concern is the ripple effect,” Merritt said, noting it would lead to a boardwalk of high-rise hotels and drive out the middle class.
Richard Barth, whose family has been island property owners for more than 100 years, said Ocean City has changed immensely over that time but the fact that it is a dry town has not changed.
He said what truly is at stake is local control of the city, the future of the boardwalk and its claim as America’s Greatest Family Resort.
“Are we going to take a state law designed for blight and use it to take away the rights of homeowners and residents who have built a master plan and zoning plan that governs the construction of homes and buildings in the city?” Barth said.
Helen Struckmann of the nonprofit Save Wonderland talked about activism. She encouraged the community to attend meetings, to talk to City Council members and to like the group’s Facebook page.
Struckmann said allowing the redevelopment would set a precedent and open the door to litigation.
– STORY and PHOTOS by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff