Council to Vote Tuesday on Marina Redevelopment Plan

City Council on Tuesday will consider a measure that could help a marina and restaurant return to the bay near 10th Street.

City Council will consider the first reading of an ordinance approving a redevelopment plan for the site. Council's biweekly meeting was rescheduled from Thursday to Tuesday (Oct. 22), because of a conflict with the city's annual Halloween Parade.

If passed, the ordinance would create a new Marine Village Harbor Redevelopment Zone in the immediate area of the development site on the 900 block of Palen Avenue. 

The redevelopment plan calls for the reconstruction of a working marina with at least 18 boat slips and the creation of a marine fueling station on an island where there is no other.

The plan also includes a building with a restaurant on the first floor, retail space on the second floor and a residence on the third. The site would include parking.

The property is the site of the former Dan's Dockside Marina and Restaurant, which has been abandoned and decaying for several years. It is now bank-owned.

An LLC owned by the Gill family — neighbors of the property and owners of a successful fishing tackle supply business — is the contract purchaser. The Gills have expressed their desire to redevelop the property.

The redevelopment plan allows the City of Ocean City "to provide financing to the developer in order to incentivize the revitalization of this area," according to a memo from City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson (see memo and planner's report along with full agenda packet). But it does not obligate the city to do so, she said. Any such deal would come with a later redevelopment agreement.

The existence of underground fuel tanks that may be leaking has been cited as one potential obstacle to traditional financing.