While crawling under the Ocean City boardwalk, developer Eustace Mita and his contractor gave CBS News Philadelphia a tour showing what he said is lime deterioration on the concrete under Wonderland Pier, and new lumber installed last May to support the building, where Mita says the 60-year-old concrete is bowing and sinking.

"The shelf life of good cement before it starts to deteriorate is eight-10 years, and that's in ideal conditions," Mita said.

Mita is still surprised and disappointed after a marathon meeting Wednesday night, where the city's planning board voted 4 to 4, denying a proposal to declare Wonderland an area in need of rehabilitation. Mita thought it was going to be a slam dunk.

"Now, it's going to go back to city council, so I'm like the proverbial ping pong ball," he said.

It's another setback for Mita, who proposed replacing Wonderland with a luxury hotel with more than 250 rooms.

The amusement park closed in October 2024, and it's been a point of contention ever since.

"This is probably the most divisive issue we've had in a long time," Sean Barnes, a city councilmember and member of the planning board, said.

Barnes was one of the four members who voted no against rehabilitation.

"I didn't think it met the criteria that the state has set forward, primarily as a condition of the property. It didn't rise to the level of needing that designation," Barnes said.

A preliminary report by the city's planning board planner stated otherwise and suggested the property met two of the six criteria for the designation.

Despite the planning board's denial, the city council can still approve the rehabilitation designation.

Now, Mita says his proposal is not dead in the water, but adds he also can't wait weeks or months for the council to take action. He says he's continuing to lose money on the property, and he told CBS News Philadelphia that if the council does not vote on the matter in the next month, he will have to move forward and sell Wonderland.

"I am hopeful, but I'm not counting on anything because I've been surprised too many times," he said.