All the latest from OC 2050

Ocean City’s Boardwalk zoning has protected its special charm and appeal for more than 50 years. Its focus on entertainment and amusements, coupled with a 13-foot height limit (with exceptions for taller rides), has kept the boardwalk open to sky and sun, and centered on family fun. These protections have been fundamental to Ocean City’s identity as America’s greatest family resort, and they have worked remarkably well in driving the economic success of this shore town.

As Ocean City Council now considers an exception to this zoning at 600 Boardwalk — an exception that may be appropriate given the unfortunate circumstances the city finds itself in — it’s critical that council also consider the risks those zoning changes could bring, and craft strict, enforceable safeguards to protect the rest of the boardwalk.

This past week, Eustace Mita told us that Ocean City’s iconic Ferris wheel cannot be saved. He went so far as to arrange a press tour, showing off the damage and describing the imminent danger.

The spectacle was galling: an owner inviting the press to highlight deterioration on his own property—one he has owned for five years—as evidence of the urgency to move forward with his vanity high-rise project, and if he has his way, with taxpayer subsidies.

OCEAN CITY — Getting a plan approved for the former Wonderland Pier amusement park site at Sixth Street and the boardwalk will require compromise all around, City Council member Keith Hartzell said at a recent meeting.

He suggested the right plan could unite the council, which so far has not unanimously supported any step in the process of considering a proposed hotel for the property.

“We’re hoping to get a 7-0 vote. We’re hoping to work that closely together that this plan meets everybody’s needs in the community,” Hartzell said at the meeting. “That’s going to take some work. Give us time.”

Five years ago, when Eustace Mita purchased Wonderland Pier, he promised to work alongside Jay Gillian to ensure Ocean City’s crown jewel would remain a premier family attraction. Three years later it closed.

Now Mita is using the media to announce that the property he owns, and should have been maintaining, is deteriorating, and he is attempting to use the issue to create pressure in his negotiations with the city for his high-rise resort proposal.

The decades-old Ferris wheel that looms over the shuttered Gillian's Wonderland Pier in Ocean City is going to be demolished, owner Eustace Mita said, and a large section of the property that housed the amusement park also is likely to be torn down in the near future. 

The attraction at 600 Boardwalk closed in 2024 and has since been the subject of a public battle over whether to construct a hotel at the site. City Council designated the property in need of rehabilitation in June, overriding local zoning restrictions to open a path for Mita's Icona Resorts to negotiate with the city on the hotel project. A lawsuit filed in August by a group of civic organizations is challenging the city's rehabilitation designation. 

Last week’s Ocean City Council meeting was hard to watch. From relatively simple matters to far more consequential decisions, the lack of foresight on display was enough to make anyone sad.

First there was the continuing effort to find the right lawyer for the city to advise them on redevelopment. Our city solicitor, mired in conflicts, and in my opinion, providing ill advice, became implicated herself in the lawsuit against the city. The second lawyer hired by council was aware of threatened litigation, yet did nothing to help avoid it. We are now on our third. Why?

Among those suing city, he wants council members to put their positions on the record

OCEAN CITY — Bill Merritt of Ocean City 2050, who is among those suing the city over the Wonderland Pier property, told City Council members they should individually state their positions on what should happen at the former amusement park site.

Speaking before City Council during public comment Sept. 10, Merritt asked council to move forward on its vote on the Boardwalk Subcommittee report, which offers recommendations on zoning and the future of the entire boardwalk. 

Filing a lawsuit against your own city is not something anyone wants to do. It is expensive, divisive, and time-consuming. So, when it does happen, it is a sign that something has gone seriously wrong.

That is where Ocean City finds itself today.

When Wonderland closed in 2024, we lost a beloved part of our history. But the city also had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ask a simple question: What should the next 50 years of the north end of the boardwalk look like?

Instead, the city focused on a different question: What does one developer want to build?

From that point forward, the process largely revolved around accommodating that proposal.

More than one month since City Council adopted its June 25 resolution declaring the Wonderland site an “Area in Need of Rehabilitation",” official communication from the city has been almost nonexistent.

As a result, the public has to piece together conflicting comments made by the city and developer to the press, and is left to wonder if the city will keep its word and truly seek a compromise, or if it was just a mirage all along.

Three years ago, Ocean City had very few organized citizen advocacy groups. Today we have several — some narrowly focused on a single lot or a single decision, others focused on government process, transparency, and long-term planning. In the opinion of those of us working hard for positive change at Ocean City 2050, this increased involvement at the local level is a very good thing.