Last fall, shortly after developer MHROC Property Owner LLC gained site plan approval for a 230-room hotel between 13th and 14th streets, Harrison Hall Hotel Inc. and several nearby property owners filed a petition in Worcester County Circuit Court seeking a judicial review of the Ocean City Planning Commission’s decision. On June 7, Judge Leah Seaton granted motions to dismiss the case, opining the petitioners should have first appealed the decision to the city’s board of zoning appeals.
“Only once those administrative remedies have been exhausted may an aggrieved party seek judicial review,” the opinion reads.
On Sept. 19, the Ocean City Planning Commission voted to approve the site plan for a proposed Boardwalk hotel between 13th and 14th streets. The project includes the same number of rooms as previously proposed for a Margaritaville development in 2021, but with less square footage and fewer amenities.
During a council meeting two weeks later, however, Harrison Hotel’s G. Hale Harrison and his attorney, G. Macy Nelson, shared their concerns about the development’s parking nonconformity and accessory uses. Later that month, Harrison Hall Hotel and nearby property owners filed an administrative appeal in circuit court.