An upzoning request for the next phase of an affordable West Ocean City housing project was greenlit by Worcester County leaders this week.
Home developer Mark Odachowski may now expand into a Phase 3 of his Salt Life mobile home park, located along Old Bridge Road. The County Commissioners on Tuesday approved his request to re-classify an 18-acre parcel from R-2 Suburban Residential to R-4 General Residential zoning.
When it comes to the county’s zoning designations, R-2 is meant for single-family homes and duplexes, while R-4 is for denser and more mobile home-friendly developments.
Odachowski hopes to start construction sometime in early 2026, pending not only site plan approval from county planning officials, but also when they’re able to secure additional water-sewer hookups for the property.
Notably, Odachowski’s own single-family home on this parcel will ultimately fall to a bulldozer in order to make way for another cohort of his cozy but modern stick-built mobile homes.
He’d already cleared out the frontage of the expansive property to construct 34 new mobile homes for Phase 2 of the project. Phase 1 of involved taking the adjacent Greenridge Trailer Park and renovating 58 homes there, including new water and sewer connections. For now, it’s unclear how many more properties Phase 3 would add.
Odachowski held a grand opening for the rechristened Salt Life mobile home park on June 20. The community offers 92 two-bedroom homes, about 1,200 square feet apiece, and priced in the $200,000s. Homes aren’t available for short-term rentals – no AirBnB overnights here – but can be rented on a 12-month basis.
I hope locals get first choice, otherwise wealthy out of towners will come in, buy up the properties, then want to change our way of life here on the Eastern Shore.