OCEAN CITY – Residents concerned about or downright opposed to developer Eustace Mita’s plans for a luxury resort hotel on the Wonderland Pier property heard about an alternative on Saturday.
Ocean City 2050, one of several groups battling Mita’s proposal, presented informal plans for Wonderland Commons – which would include a reimagined amusement area for kids, a digital entertainment center for teens and adults, free public attractions, food trucks and low-rise, high-end lodging – to about 70 people at the library.
A press release from Big Mistake, another group fighting Mita’s plan, said, “The community-led alternative of the Wonderland Commons … meets the requirements laid out by the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce: preserving Ocean City’s traditional charm, minimizing traffic and infrastructure impact, ensuring inclusive economic benefits for small businesses and neighbors, and building on community engagement and consensus.”
The June 21 library meeting was primarily led by Bill Merritt, president of Friends of OCNJ History & Culture, and Daniel Gilman, chief executive officer of TriPeak Group. It was hosted by Big Mistake, a recently formed group of multiple advocacy groups, including Save Wonderland, Friends of OCNJ History & Culture, Ocean City 2050 and Concerned Citizens of Glen Cove.
The groups say the new venue would address the concerns surrounding Mita’s resort while preserving and reinventing the charm of the original Wonderland Pier. Ocean City 2050 also says that under an “alternative collaborative development agreement” Mita, owner of ICONA Resorts, would be the master developer of the site, subleasing some of the plan’s elements.
Mita has not returned phone calls seeking comment.
Worries about the pier’s future have been ramping up over the past few months, especially after the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce gave a qualified endorsement at the end of May to Mita’s plan for a 252-room resort hotel. His plan would retain amusement pier elements such as the Ferris wheel and carousel.
To build his so-named ICONA in Wonderland resort, Mita would need to request a zoning variance from the city. He would also like the city to declare the property a redevelopment zone. The developer has moved back his timing for a public presentation about his proposal from July to August.
However, Big Mistake believes that a zoning variance will making parking and beach access more difficult, reduce foot traffic on the boardwalk and potentially raise local property taxes.
“Right now, Wonderland is zoned,” Gilman said. “For rides, arcades, pizza, minigolf – right? … You want to go vertical, put in anything where people can sleep, then you need the city to approve it.”
Wonderland Commons would not require a zoning variance, its proponents say. There are five elements to the Commons plan, each of which would be subleased: a slightly reimagined Wonderland for kids, with lower costs and simple rides; a digital entertainment center for teens and adults; free public attractions, including a playground, stage and rooftop deck; a rotation of food-trucks, and low-rise, high-end lodging with parking below the units and with “rooftop pools, restaurants, retail and dining space in the heart of it all,” according to a flyer at the library event.
There is financial interest in each of those five elements, with an extremely interested anonymous investor willing to put up the money for the digital entertainment center, Gilman said.
The “Better Idea,” as the Wonderland Commons proposal has been named, is also designed to limit taxpayer involvement.
“We went to a structure that is predominantly private enterprise,” Merritt said. “So, there may be a portion of this that’s taxpayer money, but the other thing that we’ve been doing to try to push that down as far as possible is, you probably had heard before, we had started a campaign to raise money for Wonderland.” The group has so far raised $1 million.
The Commons proposal was met with generally positive reviews from the crowd. One resident mentioned concerns over the digital entertainment center, the addition of another playground and whether the Commons will draw people to the shore for the ocean, which he believes is the primary reason people come to Ocean City.
“I’ve come to almost all of the meetings on this subject,” he said. “And I haven’t heard a viable alternative as far as drawing people to the shore. It’s just, people go to the shore … for the ocean.”
This resident’s concerns were met with boos and whispers from the crowd, with one resident saying “That’s not right!” before Gilman addressed the man’s concerns.
According to the release, “The fierce opposition to the high-rise project and the prospect of litigation create tremendous uncertainty. The Wonderland Commons plan is designed to address that uncertainty, create consensus and move the city forward, in a manner in which the developer also benefits.
“It suggests an alternative collaborative development agreement in which Mr. Mita would serve as master developer, leading the development of the lodging and landmark structure, while subleasing portions of the site to qualified operators of the amusement park, digital center, food, and retail spaces.”
Jim Kelly, a spokesperson for Ocean City 2050, also said in the release, “[The plan is] nostalgic, affordable and financially sound. We think this plan is a win-win for our town and the developer, and we’re optimistic that it’s a solution that everyone can get behind.”
