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Does Seaport Pier Need Redeveloping?

By Lauren Suit

NORTH WILDWOOD — WB Resorts Development LLC, the conditional redeveloper of Seaport Pier, has plans for the currently empty and dilapidated structure, including an indoor waterpark and adjacent 16-story hotel on the property on the west side of the boardwalk.
But the plans for the 16-story high rise may change depending on the planning board’s decision whether to qualify the site between 22nd and 23rd avenues as an “area in need of redevelopment.”
After hearing nearly a 90-minute presentation by City Planner Stuart Wiser on the state set criteria on June 27, the board opted to vote on the matter at the July 11 meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Similar to the pier, in order to qualify for redevelopment status, the property must meet one of eight state-set criteria.
If the beachfront lot qualifies under the criteria, the city can work with a professional planner to interview potential developers and negotiate and agreement for the future of the site.
Without the designation, actions of the developer are guided by the city’s land use laws.
With its battered roof and wall and water-damaged empty retail shops, Seaport Pier easily met, in December 2005, seven of the eight criteria, set by the state needed for redevelopment authorization.
However, the designation does not seem so clear cut for the beachfront site, which includes Sorrento’s Pizza VI, Ed’s Funcade, an unfinished condominium complex and the King’s Inn Motel.
Wiser’s presentation stated that while the motel is typical of seasonal accommodations once prevalent in the Wildwoods, it now meets redevelopment criteria because it is “substandard, unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated or obsolescent.”
Council candidate Kathy Martin responded in a 50-page rebuke of the report that if the building were unsafe and unsanitary, the city wouldn’t have issued a mercantile license.
Martin also argued that the 69-unit motel was filled to capacity June 9 of this year and reviewers at tripadvisor.com give the motel four out of five stars and continue to leave positive comments.
Since members of the public were unable to speak in regard to the high-rise hotel plans, because the meeting was only held to determine whether the area in question fit the state criteria, Martin appealed to city council at the July 3 meeting to reject the proposal for Seaport Pier and the adjacent lot.
“Where is the vision?” she asked.
“This will be the fifth waterpark on the island,” Martin added.
William VanFossen, president of the Beachview Condominium Association, told city council that many of his 22nd Avenue neighbors are concerned about the prospect of having a 16-story building near their homes.
“I think it will look uneven with the neighborhood,” VanFossen said of the proposed high-rise.
“And the waterpark isn’t just going to be for anyone to use, it will probably be just for guests of the hotel,” he added. “As residents, we were really looking forward to something like a high-end restaurant or entertainment on that pier.”
WB Resorts Development was formed in 2006 in Delaware by Andrew Weiner, managing partner of Splash Zone Waterpark and partner of Gateway 26; Brian Baratz, founding partner in the accounting firm Baratz & Associates; and Baratz’ son Daniel, director of operations and marketing at Splash Zone.

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