OC Today
INSIDE NEW SPRINKLER RULE – P. 11 PEDESTRIAN STRUCK – P. 40 UMBRELLAS GO UP – P. 20 PADDLING TO MEXICO –P. 29 PLEIN AIR NOT PLAIN – P. 104
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JULY 31, 2015
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
R-1, eh?
Buskers bust on City Hall
Council finds it bears burden of deciding on zoning change
Artful protest staged against assigned spaces
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 31, 2015) As expected, the city’s new policy requiring street performers to register for Boardwalk spaces below Ninth Street went into full effect Monday. And, also as expected, street performers themselves were not happy about it. So much, in fact, that at least a dozen performers staged a brief protest Monday afternoon in front of City Hall, complete with shirts and signs emblazoned “free speech prisoner” to represent what they see as an unnecessary hurdle to self-expression. “If the city just wanted to make our lives difficult, they’ve succeeded,” said caricaturist Mike Moeller. “I ZACK HOOPES/OCEAN CITY TODAY really just wish the city Street performers stage a protest Monday in front of City Hall against the See BUSKERS Page 7 new Boardwalk space system that went into effect this week.
ACME to buy 94th St. Superfresh
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 31, 2015) Ocean City may have hit peak supermarket intrigue - which may not be much, but it’s something compared to how much press grocery stores
usually get. The mostly defunct Ocean Plaza Mall on 94th Street and its anchor store, Superfresh, are almost guaranteed a major shakeup in the coming months as Superfresh’s parent company, A&P, pro-
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ceeds with its bankruptcy case and sale of stores to ACME Markets. At the same time, the underused mall’s owner, Continental Realty, is looking at a renewed push toward redeSee EXPECTED Page 3
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 31, 2015) Much like a struggling daytime TV show, Ocean City’s debate over zoning restrictions for shortterm rentals appears to have become a cycle of endless cliffhangers. One month after the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the proposal be approved, the City Council took no formal action on the creation of an R-1A zoning definition, adjourning Tuesday’s meeting without voting to either ac-
cept or reject the commission’s recommendation. Mayor and acting City Manager Rick Meehan pointed to a desire to ad- ‘We need to dress the issue as part utilize all the of the city’s tools in the comprehen- toolbox, not sive plan up- just one.’ date, a – Mayor Rick state-manMeehan dated land use study that the city hopes to proceed with with soon, although it See MEEHAN Page 5
Lousy Internet costing health dept. thousands Rest of state uses fiber optics, but here it’s just old-fashioned
By Brian Gilliland Staff Writer (July 31,2015) Internet access on the Eastern Shore is not just difficult for rankand-file consumers, but businesses, organizations and governmental agencies as well. The once-mighty T1 line used to be about the fastest connection available before the advent of fiber-optic cable, available on the west-
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Ocean City Today
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Expected sale of store could free up development ideas Continued from Page 1 velopment of the site, which was previously blocked by Superfresh’s iron-clad lease of the facility. Last week, the 156-year old Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, meaning that it will be going through a court-supervised restructuring in order to alleviate the company’s mounting debt. As part of the move, A&P will be closing 25 supermarkets and selling off another 120, according to industry reports. Shortly after the Chapter 11 filing, ACME Markets announced that it had reached an agreement, pending court approval, to buy 76 of those stores, including the Superfresh at 9507 Coastal Highway in Ocean City. According to ACME representative Danielle D’Elia, the company plans to continue operating all the locations, including the Ocean City store. “No store closures are expected as a result of this transaction,” D’Elia said. “The stores will be rebranded as ACME Markets.” Simultaneously, there is a renewed effort afoot to move forward with redevelopment of the 94th Street mall site, which has been mostly abandoned for years and is in considerable disrepair. Superfresh and Rose’s, a discount department store, are the only remaining businesses. Two weeks ago, the city council met in closed session with Continental Realty, the Baltimore-based real estate holding company that now owns the site, as well as local landuse attorney Joe Moore. Moore confirmed he was involved, but hesitated to say more. “It’s very preliminary, so I’d prefer it stay private for now,” Moore said. “When we have something concrete on the table it will be presented to the public.” Historically, Superfresh’s longterm lease on the mall property has been a sticking point for redevelop-
Ocean City Today Business ..................................69 Calendar ................................110 Commentary............................113 Classifieds ................................57 Entertainment ..........................88 Lifestyle ....................................79 Obituaries ................................42 Public Notices ..........................60 Sports ......................................73 News: editor@oceancitytoday.net Sales: sales@oceancitytoday.net Classifieds: classifieds@oceancitytoday.net Phone: 410-723-6397 Visit us on the Web at www.oceancitytoday.net and at Facebook/Ocean City Today Published Fridays by FLAG Publications, Inc. 8200 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, Md. 21842 P.O. Box 3500, Ocean City, Md. 21843 Available by subscription at $150 a year.
ment. In order to get the anchorstore supermarket to stay at the location, Superfresh was given lease rights that include control over the addition of new stores as well as further construction on the property. Negotiations between Continental and A&P to reach an agreement on what a new mall could or should look like have apparently not gone far. The issue last came to light when the Susquehanna Bank building was constructed in the mall’s parking lot. The original design called for a pitched roof - but, fearing that the roof would block visibility of the market, Superfresh exercised the lease’s design-control clause to mandate that the roof be flat, against the wishes of the city and the builder.
JOSH DAVIS/OCEAN CITY TODAY
The 94th Street Superfresh is expected to be sold off to ACME as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by its parent company, A&P.
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