OCNJ Planning Board Approves Housing For Former Car Lot: Report

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The owners of a former car lot, which Ocean City's government is trying to purchase, receiving Planning Board approval to build a 21-home development on the land, according to The Press of Atlantic City.

The former Ocean City Chevrolet site is owned by Jerry and Harry Klause of Klause Enterprises. In August, City Council passed an ordinance to negotiate buying the property that makes up the block between 16th and 17th streets and Haven and Simpson avenues.

Avery Teitler, the attorney for the Klause's, told The Press that no negotiation has gone on between the owners and the City, other than a letter send to the brothers offers a price based on new appraisals. The amount offered hasn't been publicly discussed, and Teitler did not yet want to comment on it.

Ocean City spokesperson Doug Bergen told The Press that negotiations have begun with all owners on the block but that no negotiation has been reached.

The former Perry-Egan dealership closed for good in January 2018. Council tried to purchase the property last year for $9 million. But Fairness In Taxes, a local watchdog group, successfully petitioned for a referendum on the sale, and the seller ended the deal.

City Council passed an ordinance again last August to enter negotiations for the property. Mayor Jay Gillian says the City would use the land for open space, recreation or another public use. The City is not considering putting a new public safety building there, he says. Read more: Ocean City Pols Approve Attempt To Buy Former Car Lot

If the City successfully purchases the land, a town-hall meeting will take place to discuss how to best use it, Gillian said.

Bergen told The Press that the Klause property's demolition permit has run out and that they would need to notify neighbors again before getting a new permit.

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