Planning Board OKs Changes to Ocean Drive's Outdoor Bar Area

By Donald Wittkowski The OD is getting some TLC. The owners of the venerable Ocean Drive, better known as the “OD” to locals, received approval Monday night from Sea Isle City’s Planning Board to give the tavern’s outdoor bar a facelift. Dubbed the Sand Bar, the outdoor eating and drinking area is popular with summer patrons, but is vulnerable to rain storms because it is covered by only a canvas, tent-like structure. The owners plan to solve that problem by replacing the tent with a permanent roof and columns. The project is expected to be completed in time for the 2017 summer season. Representatives of the Ocean Drive’s ownership group told the Planning Board that the historic tavern itself will not be touched. The landmark building at 40^th Street and Landis Avenue dates to 1885, when it was first known as the Philadelphia Hotel. It was transformed into the Ocean Drive in the 1940s. “The OD is remaining unchanged. The building has remained an icon of Sea Isle City for many, many years,” said Mark Gibson, a planner for owners Michael Roberts and brothers Ralph and Pat Pasceri. The Planning Board voted 5-0 to approve the project. In testimony before the Planning Board, Ralph Pasceri said the construction project will make the bar “even better.” In addition to improving the outdoor bar area, the owners also plan to build two new handicap-accessible restrooms and add three new signs. The restrooms will be part of a new storage building that will replace an existing garage slated for demolition. The Planning Board voted 5-0 to grant site plan approval for the project. By the same vote, the board also approved a handful of variances needed for construction. During the public comment portion of the board meeting, one of the people who spoke in favor of the project was Ralph E. Pasceri, the father of Ralph and Pat Pasceri. The elder Pasceri said the project will create more comfort and safety for the bar’s outdoor patrons. Another supporter of the project, Sea Isle resident Rodney Greco, said he often takes his family to the outdoor bar area for lunch and dinner. He said he is happy that a new protective roof will be built because he has been “a victim of the rain.” Ralph Pasceri, one of the Ocean Drive's owners, says the improvements will make the bar more customer-friendly. Two residents who live next to the Ocean Drive complained to the Planning Board that they have to endure noise and cigarette smoke from the bar patrons. They urged the owners to take steps to curtail the problems. “Limiting some of the cascading, crashing bottles at 3 a.m. would be nice,” said Bob Henry, a Pleasure Avenue resident who voiced concern that there will be even more noise when the outdoor bar is improved. The owners said they were sympathetic to the complaints and would try to minimize any problems, particularly with cigarette smoke spreading from the bar into surrounding homes. “I absolutely understand the complaint,” Ralph Pasceri said of the cigarette smoke. “We will try our best to make it better.” The Pasceri brothers and Roberts have owned the Ocean Drive since the 1990s. They also own the adjacent O’Donnell’s Pour House, an Irish pub at 39^th Street and Landis Avenue.