Planning Comm. OKs Plan For 160-Unit Hotel In Resort

OCEAN CITY – Plans for a
160-unit hotel at 26th Street were reviewed this week, with the
Planning and Zoning Commission approving the site plans, but with concern over
density on the half residential, half commercially-zoned property. 

The Ocean Harbor Hotel

will stand on the north side of 25th Street and to the south of 26th Street on the bayside of Coastal Highway.

The plans currently call
for 160 units in the hotel portion of the building, with 120 hotel rooms and 40
hotel suites. The building will also house a 4,600-square-foot restaurant.

A pool is also featured
in the hotel, raised with a drive-thru under the pool deck. The building also
features a seven-foot clearance for parking underneath.

Zoning Administrator
Blaine Smith explained the zoning of the property. Approximately 54,000 square
feet of the property is zoned residential, R-2, with the remaining portion of
the property zoned commercial, LC-1.

“They have adequate
density for the building proposed,” said Smith, explaining that the density was
calculated through a blend of the two zones’ density requirements.

The commission addressed
the zoning issue, questioning how it would affect the area. The hotel that
formerly stood on the parcel was strictly in the commercial section, while the
new hotel would sit with a large amount of the building in the residential
section.

“When you consider the
use of the property you have to de-consolidate the property,” said attorney for
the project Joe Moore.

“The density is a
blend,” said Planning and Zoning attorney Will Esham. “It becomes one large
track. The separation line would disappear, but the zoning won’t change.”

The commission agreed to
approve the site plan, pending further review regarding the density and zoning.

“The project does one of
the things we want, which is move some of the density away from the highway,”
said commission member Lauren Taylor.