Public Input Needed On Boardwalk Redevelopment, Ocean City Residents Say

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Ocean City residents and civic association representatives urged city officials to make any boardwalk redevelopment process more public, saying the community should see data and weigh in before a plan is finalized.

During public comment at a recent meeting centering on the future of 600 Boardwalk, residents shared their points of view.

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Recently, a group of local organizations sued the city over the designation of the former Wonderland Pier property as an area in need of rehabilitation.

The president of Ocean City 2050, Bill Merritt, said those groups believe the designation will be overturned, but he argued the council should still gather facts, undertake its own analysis and set the course for the property rather than let a developer do it.

Merritt said the work should be handled through a comprehensive master plan process. He said the issue is not opposition to a hotel in concept, but a push to have decisions made "the right way for the right reasons with a durable result that serves the best interest of this city."

He also asked the council to involve residents before any redevelopment agreement or plan is effectively settled.

"The next thing the people of Ocean City should see should not be a finished redevelopment agreement," Merritt said. "And it should not be a redevelopment plan that has already been negotiated, drafted, and effectively decided behind closed doors."

Merritt called the matter one of the most consequential land use decisions the council has faced in decades and said it could permanently alter the scale, character and economics of the boardwalk. He said public meetings should be held after market data is collected and analyzed and after preliminary discussions with the developer, but before a plan is drafted for introduction as an ordinance.

"Show us the market data. Show us the economic analysis," Merritt said. "Show us that you have done the work. And then listen."

Jack Gutenkunst said he represented the Plaza Place Civic Association and said the group echoed concerns raised by earlier speakers. Gutenkunst said he recently spent a week in Ocean City, Maryland, but does not want Ocean City, New Jersey, to become similar to that resort community.

"This may be the most consequential zoning decision any Ocean City Council has made in decades," said Susan Cracovaner.

She urged collecting more data before council makes a decision.

"Moving forward with a fundamental change to the boardwalk without first doing the appropriate market research just isn't wise," Cracovaner said. "It would be negligent."

No formal action was taken at the meeting.