Business groups, supporters dominate at Ocean City Council meeting
OCEAN CITY – Of the 87 people who signed up for public comment at the Dec. 4 meeting, the overwhelming majority asked Ocean City Council to send the Wonderland Pier property to the Planning Board for review.
That was a marked change from the Aug. 21 meeting, at which the same resolution was on the agenda. In August, there were nearly 40 people who asked to speak and by a solid margin implored council to refuse the referral.
What was the same was that much of the comment at both meetings treated the resolution as a referendum on whether or not they supported Eustace Mita’s plan to turn the former amusement park site at 600 Boardwalk into an eight-story, 252-room luxury hotel. Referring the site to the Planning Board is a step Mita requested as a precursor to trying to get zoning changed so he can build the hotel on the boardwalk.
What follows is a sampling of the often passionate positions, many followed by cheers and applause from the audience, which heavily leaned toward members of the business community.
– A number of members of the Raab family, which owns multiple properties on the boardwalk, urged council to vote yes. Mark Raab was the most passionate.
He pointed out the family is the caretakers of five boardwalk properties including the Golden Galleon, Tee Time Golf and three adjacent to Wonderland.
Two businesses that have been with them for 10 years canceled their leases, as did another one, he said. “That’s half of our tenants in one building.” “Next year we have eight leases coming up, including John Stauffer (Johnson’s Popcorn), who I’ve known since grade school, who says he’s not coming back. If this isn’t pressing issue, I don’t know what is.”
Raab said council members claimed they didn’t see the urgency.
“It’s going to look like an abandoned strip mall by the end of next summer,” he said, a problem that hasn’t happened since the 1970s when medical waste washed up on the beach.
“We cannot rent a property on the boardwalk. I don’t know how to stress the urgency enough to pass this through,” he added.
– John Stauffer, owner of Johnson’s Popcorn, said businesses did not turn out in force for the August meeting because they believed approving the referral was a “no-brainer.”
He said a hotel would bring more people to the boardwalk than visitors who rent condos. He said the drop in traffic on the boardwalk since Wonderland Pier closed the amusement park may force him to close his outlet at Sixth Street, which has been there for years.
– Jay Love said he opened a barbecue restaurant on the boardwalk in 2023, that it was an instant hit and the revenue increased by 83 percent the following year in 2024, but business dropped off by 47 percent in 2025 with Wonderland closed. He said he did not renew his lease for 2026.
He said a luxury hotel with restaurants and that could accommodate weddings and have some rides “would wake up” that end of the boardwalk.
– Effie Russell was opposed because the proposed hotel would “cast a long shadow over her neighborhood and that the issue of hotels on the boardwalk was only second to the resort’s alcohol band. She did not want the decision on whether the parcel qualified as “an area in need of rehabilitation” taken from elected officials (City Council) and given to unelected officials (Planning Board members.”
If the planners take over, the public loses control, Russell said.
– Jake Gutenkunst, representing the Park Place Civic Association, said the public was told the business sector was the “silent majority” in town.
“They are trying to convince us that they should have more influence,” he said. He said the association did not want anything high-rise on the boardwalk and he urged council to “refuse to bend to the pressure of those who feel then have more influence than constituents.”
– Tony DiRado said the issue was resolved in August and an “excellent plan” established by council forming a subcommittee to study zoning of the entire boardwalk, including the Wonderland property.
Reintroducing was causing great division in the city.
DiRado said the city needed a venue that would attract thousands of people to the boardwalk, not a few hundred like a hotel.
– Nancy Falvey said council was showing leadership by forming the subcommittee and members should stand by that process.
– Dave Hayes reminded council members citizen action stopped the Soleil project at 11th and Boardwalk two decades earlier and that Mita and business leaders were using scare tactics to get their way.
Approving the hotel, he said, would set a dangerous precedent.
He asked council to table the resolution and to go through the Master Plan review.
“We stopped a high-rise 20 years ago. We’ll do it again,” Hayes said.
– George Bauer said council shouldn’t let its power slip away and that it should stay the course with the subcommittee’s work.
He noted that everyone has the same legitimate concern that something has to be put in place of the amusement park because the north end of the boardwalk is suffering.
– Bob Hallinan ticked off a list of businesses and churches that have closes and said he was tired of hearing Mita, “a fine man,” get bashed.
“Change happens. That’s the bottom line,” he said, asking people to get back to civil discourse.
– William Matters said he didn’t have an answer, but he didn’t want to see Ocean City become a ghost town with no businesses or “a crime-filled metropolis.” He asked council to consider what the resort would need for the future.
– “If someone wants to invest $150 million (to build a hotel), I don’t know how we can say no,” said Joe Maniaci.
He said other towns have welcomed Mita’s investments. (Mita, through his Icona Resorts, has upscale hotels in Avalon, Stone Harbor, Cape May and Diamond Beach, among others.)
He said referring the property to the Planning Board offers the chance for an exciting project, even if it doesn’t turn out to be Mita’s project.
He pointed out the business community supports the hotel.
– Maria Crawford cited Councilman Jody Levchuk’s statement back in August that the city shouldn’t give zoning preference to one person and rather look at the boardwalk comprehensively.
She said chaos, rancor and division will be there for years if council changed course.
– Susan Cracovaner said business interests in town were spreading falsehoods, including that rehabilitation route is faster and that the city would have more power over the project that way.
“Would the developer advocate for something that gives him less power?” She added that a Master Plan re-examination could be done quickly, within a year, with zoning for the whole boardwalk, rather than having litigation slow everything down.
– Bill Merritt said council should continue with its subcommittee study of the zoning on the entire boardwalk and that Mita’s project could be part of that process. “Stay the course,” he said.
– Jim Kelly said the rehabilitation process was not designed for sites such as Wonderland Pier because there is no lack of private investment and the property has offers of $25 million. Rehabilitation gives power to to one property owner while a review of the Master Plan will build a better boardwalk.
– Nelson Dice wondered whether there would be a mobile amusement park owner who would be willing to operate a park for 90 days during the summer season. He also suggested various means for a visual show to demonstrate the actual scale of the hotel.
– Jeff Miller argued a hotel catering to a few would not attract more people to the boardwalk, would only benefit one landowner and could put the city at risk from future lawsuits.
“Make a decision that benefits the city at large,” he said. “Please vote no.”
– Judy Schalk said the hotel was too big and would create parking and logistical problems for people in the neighborhood and for the high school and Civic Center.
– Joe Lumpkin said he was fiercely opposed to the hotel, but has come around. Wonderland is gone forever and the town is changing while trying to maintain its fabric, he said, adding that Mita is willing to work with the city. “I think it’s an idea worth pursuing. We can’t kick the can down the road.”
– Hank Glaser, who for years owned Shriver’s Saltwater Taffy, said everyone still wants Wonderland Pier, but can’t have it because it’s gone. Mita, he said, “is offering us something quite wonderful. We have to give up some of our fantasies that we have that something else is going to come out of this guy.”
Urging that council give some respect to Mita, Glaser said if the city waits for another year a project at the site will still end up having to go to the Planning Board.
– Linda Carnuccio, a longtime resident and restaurant owner, whose husband, Larry Carnuccio was a former member and president of City Council, said council was elected to do what is best for the city without fear of how voters would react.
She didn’t know anyone willing to spend $150 million on a project in Ocean City and that the hotel would be a great addition to the city.
She said the project would still come back to them after going to the Planning Board.
– Jim Carlino said he was disappointed council was revisiting an issue that was “thoroughly debated” in August. “There are no new facts,” he said, wondering if council’s decision that night would be the last one on the issue.
– Erin Oechslin and Danielle Guerriero, both business owners, supported the referral to the planing board and they would love to see something new that would bring people to town.
– Tony Panichelli said the younger generations are in favor of a hotel, which would bring in “a better element” and if Mita “wants to spend that kind of money, grab him. Don’t let him get away.”
He pointed to Mita’s beautiful hotels that draw people to Avalon and Stone Harbor, places where there are no amusements.
– Robert Benz said council needs to look at what will be happening 20 years into the future and that younger crowds would be cheering for the hotel.
“You need to progress,” he said.
– Del’s Grill owner Tracey Rooney said she has worked don the boardwalk for 34 years and wants what’s best for the boardwalk. She urged a yes vote.”
– Chris Kazmarck, a co-owner of the Surf Mall, said there was a “tremendous downside” to voting no because the site would sit vacant. He pointed to the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City that closed in 2014 and is still vacant.
– Shriver’s Saltwater Taffy owner and operator Meryl Vangelov implored council to vote yes. Ocean City, she said, is “an amazing place. Let’s keep it that way.”
– Mike Stankiewicz said the merchants are the silent majority.
“Without them, we’re nothing. All we would have is buildings that would be boarded up. I don’t want to see the city turn into something it should not be,” he said. “I want you to vote yes.”
– Gloria Baker, a city resident who owns two shops in the city, said council members have a duty to listen to the businesses in their wards.
She was offended by some remarks by hotel opponents.
“I find it offensive that the gentleman said we the merchants just want a hotel so we can sell an extra T-shirt and piece of pizza. Shame on you for saying it. Merchants have more of a stake in the came. I ask you to listen to the people who contribute to Ocean City, making it America’s Greatest Family Resort.”
– Bill Westerman of businesses including George’s Candy and George’s Surfside Grill, said he and his family had been at 700 Boardwalk for 30 years and have watched the boardwalk diminish.
“The fallout has been dramatic,” he said, with four boardwalk businesses closing, another one that may close and five or six others with one year left on their leases who probably won’t come back “if there’s nothing positive happening here.”
He said referring the Wonderland property to the Planning Board could save businesses and garner positive press for the resort.
– Bernadette Bechtda said revisiting the vote showed “conscientious leadership” and a willingness to admit more information was needed to finalize the issue. “Holding onto traditions can lead to biased thinking,” she said. She imagined a beautiful boutique hotel with shops would be a welcome addition.
– Jim Barnach and Angela Shaw said Mita is a “fine gentleman” and the hotel could make Ocean City more of a year-round town.
– Brad Smith told council they were elected by the full-time residents and should represent them, not the interests of the business community.
He asked, “Are you going to keep having votes until they get their way?” Smith said Mita knew how the property was zoned when ht bought it and that he was not entitled to make a profit.
“He is trying to bully people so he can make money.”
Don’t rush this, Smith said. He also asked that two council members rescue themselves for conflicts of interest, but ran out of time before he could name them.
– David Brown, with nephew James Brown, said Brown’s Restaurant has been on the boardwalk for 50 years. Both he and his nephew urged council to vote yes.
He pointed out he owns a property that is rented through Airbnb, which would give him a conflict of interest because the hotel would compete with him, but he believes a hotel “is exactly what we need to draw more families into town.”
– Bob Alexander encouraged council to move forward.
“Let’s not look at Ocean City like it is today or what it’s been in the past, but what it can be in the future.”
– Jerry Corcoran said the property would go to the Planning Board eventually and the longer council waits, the worse shape Wonderland will be in. “Please don’t defer it,” he said.
– Business owner Darcy Brown said council’s inaction “has been tearing the city apart” and has led to accusations about her husband, Wes Kazmarck, and others about backdoor dealing.
She said the leaders of groups that have made unfounded accusations are disgraceful.
“I don’t care how long you’ve lived here, if you think that behavior is acceptable, you don’t know what this city stands for,” Brown said.
What happens, she asked, when the domino effect takes out additional properties after Wonderland.
She said council should listen to the long-term business owners with years of hard work who know what it takes the be successful.”
Brown called the vote “a last-ditch effort.”
– Mac McNorton said it didn’t matter if the Music Pier was packed with business owners because they pay taxes.
“Get your heads out of the sand,” he told council.
– Liz Nicoletti, a school board member speaking as a citizen, begged council to vote yes and move the project forward.
– Bill Nicoletti, a new bike shop owner who ran a satellite shop at 600 Boardwalk, said that property “is a teardown.”
He said a yes vote would not approve the hotel, but just sends the property through the proper channels.
– Mark Benevento, a resident and boardwalk business owner since 1980, said the city could close the door based on fear, rumors and information, or open the door based on facts and smart planning.
He called the hotel project a once in a lifetime opportunity and pointed out the resolution before council did not approve the hotline, but was a reasonable step to do more due diligence.
– Caitlyn Quirk read a letter from Pat Gillian, wife of late mayor and former Wonderland Pier owner Roy Gillian, saying that the hotel would be an asset to the town, helping with taxes and employment for young people and seniors.
– Former councilwoman Karen Bergman said the resolution was not about the hotel, but whether the property needed redevelopment.
“Anyone who walks by knows that’s the truth,” she said, adding anyone who planned redevelopment at the site would have to follow the same process.
– Helen Struckmann said there are people who have gathered together to invest in a plan to rebuild and revitalize the Wonderland property as a year-round entertainment center.
She said the group has consulted with CAFRA, found an amusement operator, consulted with ride-sellers, and gotten quotes on insurance and was finalizing renderings.
“We could have a family entertainment center that would bring in 10,000 people a day,” Struckmann said. “A vote for rehabilitation would be the nail in the coffin for family entertainment on the boardwalk.”
– Steve Nehmad, attorney for Eustace Mita, said his client is following procedure and if the Planning Board decided the property was an area in need of rehabilitation, that recommendation would then come back to council to decide whether to adopt it.
“We would work with you in good faith for a plan to arrest the blight that exists today,” he said. “If you don’t like what he proposes, you will not adopt the development plan.”
He urged council to give them an opportunity to get to that point and to find common ground with those who are opposed to him.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
