Community groups and individuals are suing Ocean City’s municipal government over what they allege is a tainted decision to develop the former Gillian’s Wonderland Pier and pave the way for a 252-room, high-rise luxury hotel on the Boardwalk site.
The groups challenge the mayor’s involvement – who sold the property and serves as a consultant to the developer – in the process of formally designating the defunct amusement site as an Area in Need of Rehabilitation (ANR).
Under current Ocean City zoning regulations, a hotel is not a permitted use on the property.
Local associations and two property owners filed the suit on August 10 against Ocean City and its City Council in state Superior Court in Cape May County.
Mayor Jay Gillian did not recuse himself from Council actions on Wonderland Pier, according to the suit.
“Mayor Gillian had an actual conflict of interest regarding the designation of Wonderland Pier as an ANR,” the complaint in the suit states. “Mayor Gillian used his position as the city’s mayor to direct the process to designate Wonderland Pier as an ANR,” according to the complaint.
“The City Council was repeatedly advised of the conflicts of interest during public meetings,” according to the suit.
The city failed “to faithfully perform their public duties in the public’s interest,” according to the lawsuit, which claims the city “designated Wonderland Pier as an ANR without having established the requisite evidential basis to do so.”
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the ANR designation null and void.
As of August 20, the city had yet to file its answer to the complaint.
Plaintiffs in the case are Plaza Place Civic Association, Beach Watch Motel Condominium Association Inc., Ocean City 2050 Inc., Fairness in Taxation, Inc., Harold Atkinson Jr., and William Merritt.
Gillian’s Wonderland Pier amusements, including its iconic Ferris wheel, were long a landmark on Ocean City’s boardwalk. The operation shut down in 2024 after nearly 100 years in business.
Gilamco Inc., owned by Mayor Gilliam, who served as president, sold the 2.53-acre Wonderland Pier to 600 Boardwalk LLC in 2021, the lawsuit states. The managing member of 600 Boardwalk is John F. Mita Trust F/T Family of Eustace W. Mita.
Real estate developer and hotel executive Eustace Mita is president and a member of ICONA Management LLC and president of Caritas Management LLC, according to the suit.
Wonderland Pier was sold to Boardwalk LLC for a reported $10 million in May 2021, and Mayor Gillian was to be paid $2 million over 10 years as part of a consulting contract with Boardwalk LLC, according to the lawsuit.
Mita in late 2024 unveiled his idea for a high-rise ICONA hotel at Wonderland Pier, the suit states.
A November 2024 Town Hall meeting was held and “residents expressed their concerns that other properties on the Boardwalk could similarly seek the type of high-rise or hotel development proposed by 600 Boardwalk LLC which, if permitted, would erode the family-oriented nature of the Boardwalk,” according to the suit.
In August 2025, Boardwalk LLC submitted a request to City Council to designate Wonderland Pier as an ANR. The developer’s request was accompanied by a report by a professional planner supporting the ANR designation.
The report was prepared for 600 Boardwalk, “which stands to reap financial gains by the ANR designation,” the suit states, noting that the report “was not prepared by or on behalf of the City Council.”
When municipalities investigate whether to designate an area in need of rehabilitation or redevelopment, they usually commission a report from a planning firm and then have the municipality’s Planning Board review it.
After a three-hour public meeting with comments from nearly 100 speakers, City Council in August 2025 voted 6-1 against referring the ANR designation to the Planning Board, the suit states.
At a Council meeting in November, a motion was made to add a resolution that would refer the ANR designation proposal to the Planning Board, according to the suit. The resolution was tabled by a 5-1 vote.
Then, in December, Council voted 4-3 to refer the developer’s ANR request to the Planning Board. In January, the Planning Board voted 4-4 to recommend that Wonderland Pier satisfy ANR requirements. Because it was a tie, the recommendation failed.
However, in June, the City Council voted 5-2 to designate Wonderland as an ANR.
