OCEAN CITY – A public hearing to consider the abandonment of a portion of Washington Lane has been set for next month.
On Sept. 5, the Mayor and Council will hold a public hearing on the abandonment of Washington Lane between 13th and 14th streets, or the alleyway that bisects the planned Margaritaville project.
Hugh Cropper, attorney for the developer, said his client hopes to purchase the alleyway in an effort to secure a planned overlay district (POD) designation.
“At the public hearing for the purchase of Washington Lane, we hope to prove Washington Lane is no longer needed for a public purpose because the alley ends at the next lot, at the Commander Hotel, and there’s been a long history of the Mayor and City Council abandoning alleys up and down Baltimore Avenue,” he said this week.
As proposed, the Margaritaville resort will take the place of the old Phillips Beach Plaza property and will feature hotel rooms, conference space, restaurants and retail. But to make that project a reality, the developer needs to meet a 90,000-square-foot site requirement to qualify for a POD zoning designation.
To that end, the Mayor and Council last year passed an ordinance to abandon a narrow strip of right-of-way along Baltimore Avenue to accommodate the Margaritaville project’s POD requirements. In January, however, resort officials rescinded their decision after Ocean City resident Margaret Pillas submitted a successful petition for referendum challenging the legislation.
Cropper then came before the Mayor and Council in May on behalf of his client with a request to hold a public hearing to purchase a portion of the right-of-way. During that meeting, the council voted 4-3 to deny the public hearing request, with those in opposition sharing concerns that a potential conveyance of right-of-way would impact the eventual redevelopment of the Baltimore Avenue corridor.
“The issue for me is you are asking us to take a hunk out of the Baltimore Avenue project for the future …,” Councilman Will Savage said at the time. “If we give it away now, a council 50 years from now isn’t going to have that opportunity and we don’t know what the town’s needs will be then.”
In yet another effort to build a POD development, Cropper came back to the Mayor and Council last week with a request to hold a public hearing for the abandonment of Washington Lane. He said his client was willing to pay for any appraiser the town selects and purchase the alleyway at fair market value.
“This is a request to ask you to schedule a public hearing to accept comment on our request to purchase Washington Avenue, 16 feet wide, at fair market value,” he said. “We will hire and pay for an appraisal of your choice and offer to pay fair market value to purchase Washington Lane.”
After a lengthy discussion, the council voted 4-3 to move the request to a public hearing.
On Sept. 5, at 6 p.m., the Mayor and Council will hear testimony from community members to determine if the alleyway continues to serve a public purpose.
It should be noted that while they continue to seek a POD project, the connections of the Margaritaville development have concurrently submitted a new plan to the town that includes fewer amenities, less square footage and a different configuration.
Cropper said this week the second plan, which would be built under the height-by-right statute if a POD designation is not secured, also includes a request to convey air rights to the developer.
“As a separate issue, earlier this week we requested that in the event we do not move forward with conveyance, we have separately asked that they would convey to us air rights, which is connected to the height-by-right plan,” he said.
