OCEAN CITY — Uncertain about the state’s plan for a future replacement for the Route 50 bridge, the owners of the old Cropper concrete plant property on the bay at First Street last week asked for and received an extension of an existing site plan for the redevelopment of the site.
In 2007, the previous property owners gained site plan approval for a 94-unit mixed-use residential project including 54 townhouses and 40 condominiums along with some other amenities including an eventual wrap-around Boardwalk on the historic property that for decades housed the George Bert Cropper concrete plant. The property has since changed hands again and the original site plan approval has been extended at least one other time.
With the site plan approval ready to expire again this month, the property owner, RoJo Land LLC, through its attorney Joe Moore, came before the planning commission again last week, seeking another five-year extension. Moore explained tentative plans for the project were largely unchanged and extending the site plan approval would buy the property owner more time to find out what the State Highway Administration’s long-term plan for the replacement of the Route 50 bridge might be before moving forward.
SHA is considering an eventual replacement of the Route 50 bridge, although with planning and funding issues, the bridge will not likely be replaced for another 20 years or more. However, after a considerable review and public hearing process, the preferred alternative is an entirely new draw span immediately north of the existing bridge, which would enter the resort somewhere in the vicinity of the old concrete plant property.
“We’ve been negotiating with the state of Maryland and we’re trying to determine what might be required of our property,” said Moore. “We’re asking you to consider giving us more time to determine from the state what the plans are for the new bridge. There might be a triangular portion of the property cut off in the future to accommodate the new bridge.”
In May 2011, the property was acquired at auction for just over $4 million by a prominent West Ocean City development family, and while the new owners did not have an immediate plan for the property, they got an extension for the existing site plan dating back to 2007 in the interim. The Gudelsky family, which several years ago developed much of the waterfront in West Ocean City from the Ocean City Fishing Center to Martha’s Landing to Sunset Marina, was seeking a five-year extension for the existing site plan on Tuesday in order to see what shakes out with the eventual bridge replacement plan.
In the meantime, the Gudelskys have long since cleared the old property, considered a blight on the downtown landscape for a long time. In recent years, the property has been used off and on as a staging area for the Dew Tour and local SHA projects as well as an auxiliary parking area for neighboring commercial entities. Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith explained the site plan is still valid and the zoning or character of the neighborhood has not changed since it was first approved.
“It’s still permissible by code and if you extend it, it still meets compliance,” he said. “If there were ever any changes to the plan, it would have to come back to you for approval.”
Moore urged the planning commission to extend the existing site plan for another five years.
“There is no downside to accommodating an extension,” he said. “This is not a purposeful delay, we’re just waiting on some answers from the state. It was extended three years the last time, but we’re asking for five because we don’t want to have to come back to you in another two years.”
However, the planning commission voted to extend the site plan approval for only three years.
“Three years is as long as we would go,” said Planning Commissioner Peck Miller. “We don’t know what Ocean City will be doing and five years is a little long.”
