Ocean City’s planning board deals another blow to the proposal to build a hotel at the defunct Wonderland Pier

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Once again, the football was yanked away from would-be Ocean City boardwalk hotel developer Eustace Mita just as he was about to kick it.

Ocean City’s planning board unexpectedly deadlocked Wednesday night on a request to declare the old Wonderland Pier site “in need of rehabilitation,” dealing a significant setback to Mita’s plan to build a luxury hotel on the boardwalk property.

The vote is the second time Ocean City has thwarted Mita’s attempts to move his project forward (though, in loop-the-loop fashion, an earlier no vote by City Council was later reversed.)

Mita, who has proposed turning the property into Icona in Wonderland, called Wednesday’s vote an “incredibly serious roadblock.” He said he indeed felt a bit like Charlie Brown to the city government’s Lucy, and revived thoughts of selling the property.

The board was split 4-4 with half the members agreeing that the property was significantly deteriorated and underutilized, two legal criteria needed for the designation.

But half the board, including chair John Loeper, said they did not believe the criteria had been met, and noted some businesses were open last summer at the front of the property.

The matter still will go back to City Council for a final vote on the designation, but Mita said if Council waits too long, he will unload the property.

The “in need of rehabilitation” designation has been long sought by Mita, who wants to build a $150 million luxury hotel at 600 Boardwalk.

The designation would allow site-specific zoning changes and possible tax breaks. The site is currently zoned for amusements.

After the meeting, Mita said he was shocked by the failure of the board to recommend the designation. “It’s been deteriorated for decades before I bought it,” he said. “I’m very very disappointed. This is the poster child for rehabilitation. ”

Gillian’s Wonderland Pier closed in October 2024, ending nearly a century of amusement ride ownership by the Gillian family in Ocean City. Mayor Jay Gillian had sold the property to Mita and leased it back from him, but said he could not make the enterprise profitable.

Gillian recently declared Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy, listing nearly $6 million in debt.

Wednesday’s vote brought about 150 people out to another iconic boardwalk structure, the Music Pier, on a pleasantly warm January evening.

About three dozen members of the public spoke, including Mita himself, who said the city would benefit “tenfold” from his development plans. The speakers were evenly divided in their views.

Will Morey came up from Wildwood to lay bare what many in Ocean City did not want to hear — reviving Wonderland Pier as an amusement park would be next to impossible.

“Starting from the ground up, it is not financially feasible,” Morey, the CEO of Morey’s Piers, told the city’s planning board. “It’s a very challenging lift.”

The board could not agree that the property met the legal criteria for the designation: that it was significantly deteriorated and showed a pattern of vacancy and underutilization.

“It’s an enormous piece of property that’s literally falling apart on the oceanfront,” said board member Dean Adams.

But Loeper, the chair, called the abandonment “self-inflicted” and said he would need more proof of the deterioration.

Engineering and other studies put the cost of repairing the carousel, Ferris wheel, and log flume at $6.5 million, and the cost of fixing the site’s concrete foundation and pilings at $3.9 million.

The matter will still go back to Ocean City’s City Council, which is also awaiting a report from a boardwalk subcommittee.

Opponents asked board members to deny the “in need of rehabilitation” designation. They scoffed when Jody Arena, a construction expert who testified about the property’s deteriorated state, acknowledged that Mita was a partner in his firm, Caritas Construction.

They surmised that similar photos of deterioration could be taken of the Music Pier, where the meeting was held. One resident, Jim Tweed, said the designation would threaten “decades of restraint.”

Business owners, including the owners of Manco’s, George’s Candies, Cousin’s Restaurant, Barefoot Trading, and Ocean City Bikes, asked the board to approve the designation to avoid further closures of businesses. They described a devastating impact from the closure of Wonderland Pier.

Boardwalk property owner Mark Raab said three of his tenants had decided to close their shops. “People don’t know what’s been going on,” he told the board. “The boardwalk is not thriving. It’s going down piece by piece.”

“We are a city based on tourism,” said Cousin’s Restaurant owner Bill McGinnity. “We’d appreciate a vote of ‘yes’ tonight so that we can move forward quickly,”

Others resisted any fast-tracking of development. Donna Saber, owner of Here Comes the Bride shop, brought along a copy of the original 1881 deed that she said sought to preserve its original intent as a place for child amusements.

“It was deeded as an amusement park,” she said.

Marie Hayes, a full-time resident for 22 years, worried the designation would set a “dangerous precedent,” that would result in the town resembling Ocean City, Md., with high-rises along its oceanfront.

The planning board was given reports submitted by Mita back in August, when council stunned some, especially Mita, by voting not to ask the board to study the site’s future. Mita immediately said he would sell the property.

Sean Barnes, the city councilman liaison to the planning board, questioned Wednesday whether the rides should even be considered part of the property.

“Amusement rides are not structures,” said Helen Struckmann, a resident who has opposed the hotel idea and vowed to save Wonderland Pier. She said the historic carousel was in better shape than the reports stated. “They don’t justify the need for rehabilitation designation for the property. Different amusement rides have been swapped out.”

She and others questioned why Mita had not addressed deterioration of the property since purchasing it in 2021. Mita is “now requesting a benefit from his purposeful underutilization of the property,” said resident Bob Duffy.

But Mita said he’d waived rent on the property so that Jay Gillian could try to make a go of the amusement pier. He said he’d put in $500,000 last summer to open the front portion of the property as an arcade, coffee and pizza shop, and bike shop.

Engineer Matt Mowrer told the planning board the property was “heavily deteriorated,” with “concrete spalling” — chunks of concrete breaking off from the foundation. He said corrosion from salt air would get only worse.

Board planner Randall Scheule told the board Wednesday he believed the structural deterioration of the property itself and the underutilization of the property met the standards. There was some debate as to whether the rides themselves should be included in any analysis.

The board looked at whether the site met the legal criteria needed for the designation, which will allow City Council to rezone the site for a hotel and grant tax abatements.

The board did not discuss Mita’s specific hotel plans, which have included the carousel and Ferris wheel and some kiddie rides.

Last summer, four businesses operated on the site: Ocean City Pizza Company, Dead End Bakehouse, Wonderland Pier Arcade, and OC Bikes and Rentals. Mita entertained several offers to sell, including one from the Norcross brothers, who envisioned residential development.

Planner Tiffany Morrissey told the planning board that showed the property was underutilized.

The property is assessed at $15.8 million, which translates to an estimated market value of about $29 million.

Saving the site as an amusement park has been the focus of much despair among community members and others with generations of memories at Wonderland Pier.

But the reports lay out the deterioration of the pier’s marquee attractions.

The report states that the carousel, which dates to the 1920s, would require as much as $1.5 million in repairs, including a new electrical system and repair or replacement of the telescopes, the poles that support the horses.

The Ferris wheel is also in need of substantial repair, costing as much as $2.5 million, including replacing or repairing the lights, and rebuilding the spokes and “spreader bars,” which connect the spokes and form the arc.

The Log Flume Ride, built in 1992, would need substantial repairs estimated at between $2.5 and $4 million, including rebuilding the upper troughs.

No company has stepped forward with a plan to keep the site solely an amusement park.