The undersigned residents of Ocean City, New Jersey respectfully urge the Planning Board and City Council to reject a rushed and ill-advised decision declaring the Wonderland Pier property an Area in Need of Rehabilitation. The designation is not supported by the facts and fundamentally mischaracterizes what is being proposed. Rather than a true rehabilitation of an existing use, the designation is being used to facilitate a massive transformation of the site’s scale, character, and use—one that bears no resemblance to rehabilitation. Applying a rehabilitation label under these circumstances strips away the public safeguards, standards, and scrutiny that ordinarily accompany such a significant change, and exposes the City to long-term policy and legal risks.
Such a declaration would also set a dangerous precedent for Ocean City’s family-friendly Boardwalk and the City as a whole. If approved, it will invite other Boardwalk property owners to seek similar designations, using intentional deterioration and neglect as a pathway to special treatment and site-specific rezoning. This piecemeal approach threatens the integrity of the Boardwalk, the Master Plan, and the community character that has defined Ocean City for generations.
We further urge the City to instead rely on the previously established Boardwalk Subcommittee and the Master Plan process to determine the future of the Boardwalk, including any zoning considerations. That process addresses the entire Boardwalk, is fact-driven, transparent, inclusive, and equitable to all property owners and residents, and should not be bypassed for a single-property or financially connected owner.