Hartzell says four have approached him wanting to build, but he is against them; Mayor Gillian also says he is against high-rises
EDITOR’S NOTE: This version has been updated since its original post April 8.
OCEAN CITY – Councilman Keith Hartzell used Thursday evening’s Ocean City Council meeting to expand on one of his campaign themes in his race for mayor, saying there are multiple proposals to build high-rise hotels or condos on the boardwalk even though they’re not permitted by local zoning.
Hartzell, an at-large councilman, responded after one citizen during public comment questioned Hartzell’s campaign claims, and then two other citizens said they wanted answers about those proposals, including one they said was for a $150 million, 100-room hotel discussed at a private boardwalk business owners meeting earlier this year.
Councilman Jody Levchuk, a boardwalk businessman who said he was in that meeting but did not offer details, chimed in, saying he believed Mayor Jay Gillian “owed” his explanation of the issue.
On Friday, Gillian flatly rejected the proposals and said he is against high-rise hotels on the boardwalk and against allowing alcohol sales, another rumor that was floated along with the high-rises.
After resident Frank Worrell criticized Hartzell for campaigning on the issue of high-rises on the boardwalk, which zoning does not allow, Pleasure Avenue resident Gregg Balin said a new LLC owns the lots on which Gillian’s Wonderland Pier sits on the Boardwalk at Sixth Street and said at the business owners meeting the idea for a $150 million high-rise hotel with 100 rooms was floated.
He noted there is a pathway to alcohol sales for a hotel with that many rooms and Balin, who described himself as a successful real estate developer, said that type of investment would need a liquor income, in his opinion, to be successful.
Although he acknowledged that zoning does not permit that type of construction, Balin said zoning can change because the mayor appoints the Planning Board. (City Council appoints the Zoning Board.)
“What’s the plan? Who benefits? And if the mayor is involved in changing Ocean City forever, how does he benefit and why? We the taxpayers and voters demand to know before the election,” Balin said.
Aram Ecker of Pottstown, Pa., who owns a second home in the resort, continued on that theme, thanking Balin for raising it and saying the project should be investigated.
“I don’t know why it took that guy (Balin) before me to bring it to your attention,” Ecker said via Zoom. “Everyone is afraid” to talk about it, he added. Ecker said to “follow the money” to see who benefits and who is connected, whether realtors or members of the boards.
Hartzell speaks up
Standard practice at council meetings is for public comment to go unanswered, although that isn’t always the case. At times city officials have used later portions of the council meeting to respond to allegations or comments raised during public comment.
Hartzell spoke up right after public comment, saying he wanted “to tell my truth.”
He said when City Council first discussed looking at closing the loophole that allowed certain condo units to be built on the boardwalk – a loophole council later closed – a boardwalk businessman kept him on the phone for an hour and a half with his vision about a high-rise hotel. The businessman’s vision was the Boardwalk at Disney.
The businessman admonished him, Hartzell asserted, and said the boardwalk was in disarray with properties falling apart that weren’t complying with code. They needed new development to be able to invest more in their properties.
After that, Hartzell said, another business owner told him they needed residential and hotel units to defray the cost of upgrading their buildings.
The councilman said as a commercial property owner, the city has been very to good him and he can always afford to maintain his buildings. “For anybody to say they can’t afford to maintain a building (in Ocean City), it’s just pure hogwash,” Hartzell said.
They both want high-rise hotels, like Boardwalk at Disney, he said.
“I don’t want Boardwalk at Disney. I want Ocean City just the way it is,” Hartzell said.
He said an intermediary for a third boardwalk owner who bought extra land also approached him.
“Some people don’t think this is going on, but I’ve been approached three times. Then I got approached a fourth time,” Hartzell said. According to the councilman, the fourth person threatened him when learned he was dead-set against high-rises.
He told him he would do anything to stop the councilman from getting elected, Hartzell said, and he said he told the person he would do anything to stop the high-rises.
Hartzell said what Balin said was factual and that what is going on caused him a lot of sleepless nights in the past year.
He added that three people who were at the meeting of boardwalk owners verified what happened. Hartzell said because the Planning Board is appointed by the mayor, who is in office makes a difference for the future of the town.
There are “a lot of very powerful people, that you know have a lot of money and the wherewithal to make things happen,” Hartzell said, “but I love this town more than anything. It’s been so good to me and I don’t want it to change in that direction. That’s my truth.”
Contacted after the council meeting, Levchuk verified he was at the Feb. 1 boardwalk business owners meeting. He said it is a new group open to anyone who owns property on the boardwalk. He said the two topics the still-informal group discussed that day were parking and hotels.
He said he didn’t believe there was anything secretive about the meeting or that anyone should be hesitant to share what was discussed. He pointed out he is always open to consider new and interesting business ideas, provided they meet the required approvals by the city’s boards. One non-starter for him is anything to do with alcohol, he noted.
Levchuk said he wears three hats, not only as the Third Ward councilman, but also as a resident/taxpayer and a business owner on the boardwalk, which gives him a direct interest in what is taking place there. He stressed that he has no involvement in the mayoral election, is not involved in either campaign for mayor, and that he didn’t want his comments to be construed as having any bearing on that.
Levchuk did verify the comments made by Hartzell and two of the speakers at public comment at the meeting, including Balin, and said they were accurate regarding the hotel idea discussed by Eustace Mita and that Gillian was referred to as a managing partner.
He reiterated that because Hartzell publicly offered his views on hotels on the boardwalk, he encouraged Gillian to discuss his positions as well. He made clear that he wouldn’t repeat what Gillian said at the meeting because Gillian is able to speak for himself.
Mayor responds
Gillian wasn’t at the council meeting. Contacted by the Sentinel and asked about all the comments made by the citizens and Hartzell at the meeting, Gillian read a statement he prepared.
“There may be people who want to build hotels or high-rises in Ocean City, but I do not and I never said I did,” Gillian said. “There may be people who want to see alcohol in Ocean City, but not me.
“I don’t want to talk about what other people want to do, especially when those things are not permitted by law,” he continued. “I want to talk about my 12-year record as mayor. My opponent seems to be making up imaginary problems he can solve. I have a record of tackling and solving real issues – drainage, back-bay dredging, boardwalk replacement and so on.”
Gillian and Hartzell are the two candidates for mayor in the May 10 election.
Liquor licenses
not automatic
Later in the council meeting, city solicitor Dorothy McCrosson explained that liquor licenses for hotels are not granted automatically.
She said there is a misconception about the state law about hotels with more than 100 rooms being able to get a liquor license. McCrosson explained that the state decides on the number of liquor licenses in a community based on population, but there is an exception for large hotels that can get one in addition to the limit.
However, it is up to the municipal body to decide whether to grant one. “There would be a number of hurdles for a hotel to get a liquor license,” she said.
In Ocean City, that would mean that Ocean City Council would first have to decide to allow liquor sales in the resort and then to decide whether to grant a hotel the right to a liquor license.
“It’s not an automatic thing,” McCrosson said. “It would be in the hands of elected officials.”
Ocean City is a dry town where alcohol sales are not permitted. A 2012 referendum to allow BYOB in local restaurants was resoundingly defeated by a more than 2-1 margin. Gillian, who was in his first term as mayor at that time, thanked the citizens for maintaining Ocean City’s tradition as a dry town.
– DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff