JULY 17, 2025
BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
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Heron Park parcel given its rezoning Change to shopping district allows Coastal Ventures to proceed with retail project
PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOD BOY MANUFACTURING
REACH FOR IT Huge bubbles from a performer on stilts provided some entertainment for younger attendees to last weekend’s Hot Summer Swing and Taylor Bank Cheers to 150 Years! event.
By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (July 17, 2025) Following a public hearing, the Berlin Town Council approved a request from developers to rezone parcel 57 at Heron Park from R-1, residential, to B-2, shopping district, to allow for the space’s renovation. Heron Park’s parcel 57, the site of the former Tyson Foods poultry processing plant, will be rezoned from a residential district to an area designated for shopping and retail. The Berlin Town Council green-lit the reclassification at its meeting on Monday, July 14. Per the property’s new categorization to B-2, the sale of parcel 57 from the Town of Berlin to developers Palmer and Sandy Gillis of Coastal Ventures Properties (CVP) may now go forward. CVP agreed to purchase parcel 57 from the Town in April. The contract stipulates that for the sale to proceed, the land must be rezoned from residential to commercial use. The developers’ attorney, Mark Cropper, went before the Berlin Mayor and Council during the governing body’s meeting earlier this week, requesting the rezoning of par-
The Town of Berlin is under contract to sell the former poultry processing buildings and property for commercial redevelopment.
cel 57 based on a previous classification mistake and a change in the character of the neighborhood. Cropper gave a similar presentation to the town’s planning commission last month, seeking their recommendation, which they provided. Cropper said that the space must be rezoned, as there has been a change in the character of the neighborhood. Cropper defined the neighborhood as either the Town of Berlin as a whole, or a more restricted location bounded on the north by US Route 50, bounded on the south by Franklin See COUNCIL Page 3
Mayor, council seek more control over risky business By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (July 17, 2025) The Berlin Mayor and Council reviewed a potential ordinance that could revoke businesses licenses from town establishments if their operation creates a risk or nuisance for residents and visitors. The draft will have its first reading
at an upcoming Town Council meeting. At a Town of Berlin Mayor and Council meeting on Monday, July 14, David Gaskill, attorney for the municipality, presented a draft ordinance that if adopted, could allow the town to refuse to grant, suspend or revoke, or place restrictions on li-
censes obtained by businesses operating within the Town of Berlin limits on the basis the establishment is creating a hazard to Berlin residents and visitors. The draft reads, “the right is reserved to the Mayor and Council to refuse to grant any license, to suspend or revoke any license previously
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granted or to place appropriate restrictions on any license which is determined by the Mayor and Council, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, to be detrimental to or to adversely affect the health, safety, morals, peace, comfort, and general welfare of the surrounding properties See TOWN Page 4
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