OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
SEPTEMBER 22, 2023
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
SLOW DOWN
SPEED LIMIT ENACTED
Special event zone in place across resort through weekend to deter tuner car rally – Page 18
FREE
PHOTO COURTESY DONA JUNG PHOTOGRAPHY
WAVE ACTION
Heavy surf greeted visitors to the north jetty at the Ocean City inlet last week, courtesy of Hurricane Lee’s passing up the coast. Surf conditions this week could be substantially worse, however, as a low pressure system seems poised to join a nor’easter-like disturbance late Friday, according to the National Weather service. The operative word, though, is “seems” as midweek forecasts are subject to change.
A smaller-ritaville makes progress
Developers get some wins, experience losses as they try to build on Phillips site
By Mallory Panuska Managing Editor (Sept. 22, 2023) For more than two years, a team of developers have been fighting snag after bureaucratic snag to bring an oceanfront Margaritaville resort to downtown Ocean City.
Now, after the plans forked off into two parallel projects, one of which may end up losing the Margaritaville name, the blows are still coming. But among the challenges are some wins, which came this week in the form of approvals from both the City Council and resort planning commission. The original proposed project, a 13-story, 265-room, amenity-rich Margaritaville resort at the former Phillips Beach Plaza property between 13th and 14th streets, hung in
the wings this week as a second, smaller project took center stage. Jack Mumford, the vice president and principal architect for architectural firm Becker Morgan Group, said during a public hearing at a City Council meeting Monday that the new, smaller project calls for 11 stories, 230 rooms, fewer amenities and less square footage than the original. The hearing was held to debate the developer’s request for air rights 14 feet over an alley that bisects the
property. Local Attorney Hugh Cropper, who represents the developers, said during the hearing that the smaller project will likely be developed as a different hotel brand. “I can’t tell you that what is here is going to qualify for a Margaritaville resort because it doesn’t have as much restaurant space, convention space and other amenities,” Cropper told the council members. “That is See SMALLER Page 6