OCEAN CITY – At a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Tuesday, it was unanimously agreed to approve the proposed Clipper Hotel, after the commission agreed that it was an ideal project for the downtown area.
The proposed three-story structure, which will be located at 1107 North Baltimore Avenue, will consist of seven hotel suites and one employee-housing unit. The three-stories make it ideal for the downtown area, which is trying to stay under five stories to maintain its downtown charm.
Parking will be included in the building with eight parking spaces proposed. Baltimore Avenue pavers will also be added to widen the sidewalk by the hotel. To avoid a curb cut on Baltimore Ave., parking will be accessed from Wilmington Lane, the rear alleyway.
The proposed hotel will be replacing a current apartment building that contains four, three-bedroom apartments.
The building will also contain a pool on the second floor above the parking garage. Glenn Irwin, executive director of the Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC), explained that the height of the first floor would need to be taller than the other floors to provide the necessary distance from the second floor pool.
Irwin also explained that the front wall of the building would be at least 17 feet from the public right of way to allow the building to better line up with the front setbacks of adjacent buildings.
Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith explained that because the height in the upper downtown area is measured differently than the rest of the town, the developer still has some breathing room for height. This will help for the inevitable height that is added to a project during construction.
“We thought it was a good project,” said Irwin, reporting the support of the OCDC Downtown Design Committee and recommending that the Planning and Zoning Commission approve the proposal.
Smith also agreed that this was the type of project that the city had been aiming for in the downtown.
The commission unanimously agreed to approve the proposal.
“I think it’s a great project for the downtown area, it looks exactly like what we’ve been wanting,” Commissioner Pamela Buckley said.