Debate Continues on Plans for Boardwalk Hotel at Wonderland Property

For the second time in two weeks, hotel developer Eustace Mita faced intense questioning and had some testy exchanges with critics of his plan to build a luxury resort on the Ocean City Boardwalk in place of the shuttered Wonderland Pier amusement park.

During a 90-minute presentation and question-and-answer session Wednesday night, Mita repeatedly touted the economic benefits of his $135 million to $155 million project for Ocean City’s tourism market and tax base.

“People will come just to see the hotel,” he said of what he believes will be the project’s broad economic advantages for the city and Boardwalk.

The community meeting at the Ocean City Tabernacle started cordially, but quickly turned more combative when opponents denounced the project and also questioned whether Mita was trying to unfairly bypass local zoning laws to develop the 250-room hotel.

They expressed concerns that the 7½-story hotel would simply be too large for that section of the Boardwalk at Sixth Street. They also fear that the project would overshadow the surrounding neighborhood of Plaza Place, an enclave of single-family homes mostly dating to the early 1900s.

Paul Fuentes, whose family owns two homes in Plaza Place, said the hotel’s massive size would be like having the “great wall of Berlin” looming over the neighborhood, blocking out the sun in the process.

“You’re going to put a monstrosity of cement and steel on my corner,” Fuentes told Mita during the question-and-answer session.

“I don’t think it’s a monstrosity,” Mita shot back.

    Ocean City resident Paul Fuentes calls the proposed hotel a "monstrosity" that will overshadow his residential neighborhood.
  

Speaking to the audience, Mita said that “fear-mongering” is part of the opponents’ strategy against the hotel.

He praised the hotel’s classic seashore design, noting that it was modeled after the famous Hotel del Coronado in San Diego and Disney World’s Grand Floridian resort. Amenities would include 10 to 12 retail shops clustered within a promenade overlooking the Boardwalk, a 375-space parking facility tucked underneath the building and indoor and outdoor pools.

“I love your buildings. You do really good work,” Judy Stephenson, who owns three Ocean City condos, told Mita while expressing her support for the hotel.

Robin Shaffer, an Ocean City resident who also supports the project, said he believes the hotel would stimulate more tourism business for the town.

“I’m for this project because you’re willing to bring some people here who are willing to spend money,” Shaffer said to Mita.

Mita is the owner of the ICONA brand of luxury resort hotels at the Jersey Shore. The Ocean City hotel would be called “ICONA in Wonderland” in a nod to the amusement park’s long history as an iconic Boardwalk attraction.

    An architectural rendering of the proposed "ICONA in Wonderland" resort hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
  

As previously announced, the hotel would incorporate Wonderland’s landmark 140-foot-tall Ferris wheel, the historic carousel dating to the 1920s and the Wet Boats kiddie rides into the designs. Mita announced Wednesday that he has just bought Wonderland’s Batman jet and helicopter rides and will include both on the hotel property.

“We may sneak a couple of rides in there,” Mita joked of having some of Wonderland’s best-known attractions included with the hotel.

However, Mita has no plans to operate an amusement park or resurrect Wonderland Pier. Two local preservation groups, Save Wonderland and Friends of OCNJ History & Culture, want to see a modern amusement park built on the property instead of a hotel.

During a community meeting on Saturday, Friends of OCNJ unveiled conceptual plans for a new amusement park that would feature an array of rides, an arcade, a playground, a children’s theater, a band shell, a bowling alley, water features for model boats and other family attractions wrapped up in a town square-like design.

Although Friends of OCNJ is raising money as an incentive for a developer to come in and possibly build an amusement project, the fact remains that Mita owns the property and wants to build a high-end hotel.

One controversial aspect of Mita’s plans is his request for City Council to formally designate the site “in need of redevelopment,” a move that would permit the hotel to be built in an area of the Boardwalk that currently allows only retail shops, restaurants and amusements.

    Jim McHugh displays a sign expressing concern that the hotel is part of a real-life game of "Monopoly" on the Boardwalk.
  

Some critics maintain that Mita is trying to play a real-life version of “Monopoly” to spark a new wave of hotel development along the Boardwalk.

Jim McHugh, an Egg Harbor Township resident who grew up in Ocean City, sat in the Tabernacle audience holding a sign that said, “Don’t Play Monopoly With Our Boardwalk!”

“I like the idea of a hotel, but not in that location,” McHugh said of Mita’s project. “I think it’s going to open the floodgates for more hotels on the Boardwalk. It’s not even zoned for that.”

The redevelopment zone proposal for the hotel prompted strong questions and criticism of Mita when he first made a public presentation of his project on Nov. 25 during a packed meeting at the Ocean City Free Public Library.

During a discussion of the redevelopment zone Wednesday night, Ocean City resident Jack McGinnis pointedly questioned whether Mita was trying to bypass local zoning laws to rush to get his project built.

McGinnis, who lives on Brighton Place close to the Wonderland property, asserted that Mita appears to be seeking “special treatment” from the city. He also repeatedly asked Mita and his attorney, Michael Lario, whether the redevelopment zone designation, if approved, would give the hotel project an advantage over Ocean City’s conventional zoning process.

Lario said the redevelopment zone classification would allow for an underutilized piece of property to be revived with new construction.

    Jack McGinnis, an Ocean City resident, questions whether Eustace Mita is trying to bypass the normal zoning process for the hotel project.
  

McGinnis, though, didn’t back off. He continued to press Mita and Lario for answers about how the redevelopment zone would benefit Mita. McGinnis is a former mayor of Tabernacle, N.J.

In response, Mita explained that the redevelopment zone would allow the hotel to be built faster than if it went through the normal zoning and planning process.

“The benefit to the developer is expediency,” Mita said. “If we go to zoning and planning, it could go on for years and years and years.”

Continuing with his sharp line of questioning, McGinnis asked Mita whether Mayor Jay Gillian, whose family owned Wonderland, would benefit financially in any way from the hotel project.

McGinnis’ question prompted Councilman Tony Polcini, who organized the meeting, to immediately call for McGinnis and other members of the audience to be respectful.

Clearly angered by McGinnis’ question, Mita paused for a few seconds to gather himself before answering.

“The mayor has zero gain,” Mita said. “The mayor has gone through hell for this city.”

    Wonderland Pier's landmark Ferris wheel would be incorporated into the hotel project's designs.
  

After the meeting, Gillian said any criticism of him “was part of the job” as mayor.

“I’ve got thick skin. But I do wish that when people talk like that they would think of my family,” he said of McGinnis’ question. “But I can handle it.”

As he has done for weeks, Gillian reiterated that he officially remains neutral about the hotel project while it is being discussed and debated in public.

Gillian’s family operated Wonderland Pier for nearly 60 years at Sixth Street and the Boardwalk. Gillian closed the amusement park on Oct. 13 following years of financial difficulties.

Mita invested in Wonderland in 2021 to save it from a sheriff’s auction after Gillian defaulted on an $8 million mortgage for the park. Afterward, Mita took control of the property.