WORCESTER COUNTY, Md. — Ocean City's plans to purchase property west of Berlin for a proposed sports complex have fallen through, but town officials say the effort to build a facility in the area is far from over.
The roughly 193-acre property along Route 50, about two miles west of Berlin, had been identified as the proposed site for the complex.
Ocean City officials have said the town does not have enough available land within its existing footprint to accommodate a sports complex of this size, prompting the search for a site outside the city.
Councilman John Gehrig said during Monday night's meeting that he believed the project should continue moving forward before the town made a final decision.
“Killing it before it’s born, I just think it's premature,” Gehrig said.
Gehrig said he would rather allow the project to progress and give neighbors an opportunity to evaluate the plans before deciding whether it should move forward.
“I'd rather take it down the path if you still hate it once it's presented, and the design is presented, you know, at that point, it can be killed,” Gehrig said.
Not every council member supported the plan.
Councilwoman Carol Proctor raised concerns about the project's budget and the financial projections presented to the council.
“I just don't even believe in the budget, really, the performance that was presented,” Proctor said. “I don't think these numbers are correct. I think it's a lot of forecasting.”
The meeting also drew neighbors who live and work near the proposed site, including Bob Arthur, who operates a business across the street from the property.
Arthur said he was concerned about the impact a large sports complex could have on the rural character of the surrounding community.
“This is just a little hamlet out in the county where kids can ride our bikes on the street," Arthur said. "We can have our children walk over to their neighbor's house. If you bring this urban environment out here, it's going to ruin everything."
Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said the concerns raised during the meeting showed the town needed to take another look at how the project had been handled.
“I think what tonight has proved is once again, the process has failed,” Meehan said.
Meehan said the town now has to determine its next steps, including whether to continue looking for a property for the sports complex.
“We're going to have to decide do we want to continue to look for a property," Meehan said. "Do we continue to believe in the sports complex? I think we have to go back and look at all the performance again."
During Monday night's meeting, Meehan said one possible next step could be examining the economic impact a sports complex could bring to the area.
The proposed facility is intended to include indoor and outdoor sports facilities and bring tournaments, tourism and employment opportunities to the area outside the traditional summer season.
The town's previous proposal called for an $8.7 million purchase of the Route 50 property, with funding coming through visitor room-tax revenue and participation from the Maryland Stadium Authority rather than Ocean City property-tax revenue.
With that property purchase no longer moving forward, Ocean City officials will now have to determine whether to pursue another site and how to move ahead with plans for a sports complex.
