Ocean City Council moved forward on a plan to build a luxury hotel at the old Wonderland Pier site

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — The proposal to build a luxury hotel on the site of the closed Gillian’s Wonderland Pier on Ocean City’s Boardwalk got a long-sought boost Thursday.

The City Council voted 5-2 to declare the site at 600 Boardwalk “in need of rehabilitation,” a designation sought by developer Eustace Mita.

Council will now begin a process of negotiating with Mita over what ultimately gets built on the property, which for decades attracted families to its rides and arcades.

Reached by text message, Mita called the action a “great vote for the populace of Ocean City ! A win for progress in the future of America’s greatest family resort.”

He added, “But this is only the first step in the process.”

Mita has proposed a seven-story luxury hotel, but a committee appointed by council to study the property suggested that a smaller hotel might be more suitable.

Council member Dave Winslow, originally opposed to the designation, said he now saw the rehabilitation designation as a way for the City Council to have more input in what ends up being built.

“There’s an urgency to restore the north end of the Boardwalk to its former glory,” Winslow said. “The designation gives zero approval to build anything. It puts the future development of the property in the hands of this governing body to make decisions on scope.”

Council President Terry Crowley Jr. also stressed that the designation was the beginning of a process. He said the council would be mindful of the conclusions of a Boardwalk committee that urged the smaller footprint with public entertainment along the Boardwalk, and which would be mindful of neighbors.

“We want a state-of-the-art product at that end of the Boardwalk,” he said.

The nearly three-hour meeting included numerous residents speaking against the resolution, suggesting there might be legal action taken if council passed it, and urging them to wait until July when a newly elected anti-hotel council member, Jim Kelly, will be sworn in.

The meeting was moved to the city’s Music Pier to accommodate the number of people, and turned heated at times.

Several speakers asked that several council members recuse themselves, accusing them of conflict of interests. Others said declaring Boardwalk frontage in need of rehabilitation in a wealthy beach town was illogical.

“The rehabilitation designation was created to help struggling deteriorated communities revitalize themselves,” said resident Dave Hayes, during public comment. “It was never meant to apply to expensive beachfront properties so wealthy developers like Eustace Mita could further increase their profits.”

Numerous business owners on the Boardwalk and elsewhere in town urged the council to move forward on the project.

“It’s been the better part of a year,” said Caitlin Quirk, president of the Downtown Merchants Association. “You’ve done your due diligence. You’ve done your homework.”

While neighbors argued the hotel idea was not in keeping with the family entertainment of the Boardwalk, business owners said the entire economic viability of the boardwalk was at stake.

Mark Raab, whose family owns numerous Boardwalk properties, said one of the stores near the closed Wonderland has no tenant this summer and is boarded up.

“Next year, it’s even dimmer,” he said. “We have five storefronts up for lease, two definitely not coming back. This is a crossroads that we are enduring. Thousands of people are going to walk by that boarded-up store and wonder why. We are out of time.”

Council member Jody Levchuk, who runs Jilly’s Arcade on the Boardwalk, said all the planning reports point to “the demise of the north end of the Boardwalk” if action wasn’t taken.

Mita, who has proposed back in November 2024 turning the property into Icona in Wonderland, had sought the designation initially as a way to fast track his hotel idea.

That did not happen.

In January, the city’s planning board deadlocked on whether to recommend declaring the site in need of rehabilitation and sent it back to Council.

Mita in the meantime moved on to other projects, including a “Soul Sanctuary” Catholic retreat in Ireland on the former grounds of a notorious abbey.

The future of Wonderland has generated protracted and heated debate in the Shore town, with residents intially vowing to save Wonderland and later arguing that “big hotel” would be a “big mistake.”

While some cling to the idea that an amusement park could still be opened there, most opponents have tried to argue that Mita’s proposal is too big for the site, would compromise nearby residential neighborhoods, and is not in keeping with the Boardwalk town’s family vibe and need for family entertainment.

How big the hotel will be remains a topic to be negotiated now between the city and Mita, who bought the land from Mayor Jay Gillian and initially leased it back to him to continue to run Wonderland.

Gillian made the decision to close the 65-year-old institution in October 2024, saying it was no longer financially viable. He declared personal bankruptcy this year, in part from failed business ventures. Voters elected him to a fifth term in May.

Council member Tony Polcini said his yes vote was “to give hope to the people that work hard,” in seasonal businesses.

“The beach and the Boardwalk are a part of our livelihood and why our homes are worth so much,” he said. “I really truly feel that moving this process forward to a yes will allow us to negotiate and do what is best for Ocean City.”

Voting no were council members Keith Hartzell and Sean Barnes, who said the regular zoning and planning process would be a better way to move forward.