No More Motels in North Wildwood?

The City of North Wildwood has made a bold move to reshape its future development by introducing a new ordinance that eliminates hotels and motels as permitted or conditional uses throughout the city.

This ordinance, which passed its first reading during the City Council meeting on October 1st, 2024, and was officially adopted on November 6th, marks a significant shift in the city’s land use regulations.

Before people get upset, and to get to the point, motels aren’t going anywhere and motels can still be approved. We explain that later on in the article.

Why This Change?

In recent years, North Wildwood has observed a growing trend: fewer new hotels and motels being built and an increasing number of existing ones being converted into condominiums. These conversions have led to enforcement challenges, especially when properties originally intended as transient lodging start functioning as permanent residences.

Mayor Patrick T. Rosenello explained the reasoning behind this ordinance:

“The elimination of hotels and motels as a permitted use under our land use regulations is due to the ongoing conversion of these properties into individually owned units. While these buildings are still required to operate as hotels or motels, the original intent of our regulations was never for them to be split into multiple ownerships. When hotels and motels are divided into individually owned units, they lose their effectiveness as transient lodging facilities.”

This issue was highlighted during the October Planning Board and Zoning meeting. A specific example involved Champagne Island, which was initially approved as a motel but later had its units sold as condominiums. Although the original approval was for transient use only, many buyers mistakenly assumed they could live there year-round. Recently, the city even received a request for a long-term lease from someone claiming to reside in one of these “transient” units.

To address this growing concern, Mayor Rosenello suggested amending Chapter 276 of the city code, which governs land development, to completely remove hotels and motels as permitted uses in North Wildwood. He stressed the urgency of implementing this change to regain control over the situation.

What the Ordinance Entails

The new ordinance modifies Chapter 276 of North Wildwood’s City Code, focusing on land development. The key changes include:

Prohibiting hotels and motels as permitted or conditional uses in all zoning districts across North Wildwood.
Applying these regulations to both existing properties and any future developments, effectively preventing new hotels and motels from being established within the city.
Addressing enforcement challenges related to hotels that have been converted into condos, ensuring they can no longer operate under the guise of traditional hotels.

Mayor Rosenello further clarified:

“Moving forward, if a developer wants to construct a new hotel or motel, they will need to prove to the Planning Board that the facility will operate as a single business entity with a focus on transient use.”

This requirement ensures that any new developments in the hospitality sector function as unified, business-managed entities rather than fragmented, individually owned units.

Also See: Statement from ICONA on Wonderland Pier

It’s important to note that this ordinance does not apply to the North Wildwood Marina area. For instance, the planned Ocean Bay Spires development approved several years ago, remains unaffected. Although there hasn’t been an update on that project for some time, it is still in progress.

In our video below we talk about this change and some of the challenges that we have been facing in North Wildwood due to the conversion of these motels. One of those issues we have been seeing since these conversions is the lack of parking.

When a condo is built, we see units providing at least two spots per unit. When a motel goes condotel, we still see people wanting to bring multiple cars but only one spot to part said car in. Plus with the introduction of golf carts on the street, we see a third vehicle gets put into the mix.

This brings us to the second part of our video in which we talk about the future of the Ivanhoe Motel. This motel, unlike others in the area, is not going to go condo. Instead, the owners have asked North Wildwood’s Zoning and Planning Board to allow them to demolish the property and turn the motel’s commercial lot into five residential lots for single-family homes.