Ocean City residents express concern over hotel plan at former Wonderland site

Gillian's Wonderland Pier is gone, and developer Eustace Mita, hopes to convert the site into something big.

He envisions a 252-room hotel, with an investment of between $135 and $155 million, to grow on the remains of the beloved amusement park with room to save the iconic Ferris Wheel, and add new retail shops.

"Zeal for Ocean City consumes me and this is a site I'm very passionate about," said Mita, during a community meeting on Mita's proposed Icona in Wonderland hotel development.

Mita argued that he and his family have spent decades in Ocean City, New Jersey and they loved Gillian's Wonderland Pier when it was operational.

And, with its closure, Mita said he hoped the hotel project could bring some activity back to that site. And, he noted the $1 million in taxes that the business would pay to Ocean City could help the community, as well.

"I think the thing that a lot of us can agree on is, we have to do something with the site," said Mita. "We can't just leave it as it is."

Yet, residents expressed a wealth of concerns.

During Monday's meeting, those in attendance questioned if the beach and roadways could handle the influx of tourists, if there was any hope that Gillian's Wonderland Pier could return -- Mita said that, regretfully, it wouldn't -- or if the community had already had too many rental properties without another hotel.

One woman in attendance, who identified herself as "Helen," said she worried that zoning changes for the proposed property could open up floodgates to allow more hotels to develop along the boardwalk, raising property values along the boardwalk and potentially pushing out existing businesses.

"We do not need an entire boardwalk of hotels," she said.

Another resident, who said his name was "Nelson" during the meeting, said that the loss of the amusement park was a blow that could impact the future of the community.

"Has anyone thought that if we choke off amusements to the degree that this would, how that impacts our future, meaning the children?" he asked.

The resident noted that the youngsters in his family always looked forward to the rides at Gillian's Wonderland Pier.

"If Disneyland locked up all the rides, who would stay at the hotels?," he mused.

Mita hoped to assuage these concerns, reminding the crowd that the proposed project would have an arcade, carousel, Ferris Wheel and other amenities.

For Ocean City resident Michael Camino, the proposal looked like a nice plan. In fact, he told Mita that he has stayed at Icona properties elsewhere and enjoyed the stay.

But, he didn't believe Mita's proposal was the right property for the former site of the amusement park.

"This is not Monopoly, you don't get to have a hotel at Boardwalk and Wonderland Park Place," he said.

Officials with Ocean City noted, during the meeting, that the proposal is not a done deal and there would be more discussion before and decision is made on the future of that site.

Another meeting on the proposal will be held on Dec. 4, 2024.