Ventnor City adopts redevelopment plan for former Ventner Avenue school to preserve front building and allow 34 homes

The Ventnor City Board of Commissioners voted unanimously May 22 to adopt Ordinance 2025-0005, the Ventner Professional Campus redevelopment plan for the 2.3-acre former Ventner Avenue school site. The ordinance preserves the existing front school building for commercial uses and allows a conceptual residential component of approximately 34 three-bedroom units behind it.

Why it matters: The redevelopment plan replaces the site’s current MU (mixed-use) by-right rules for this parcel with a site-specific framework that the commission and developer say will protect the historic front building, add pedestrian-activated retail and outdoor dining, and limit residential density compared with what the MU zone would permit without the plan. Adoption authorizes the planning-board review process and the negotiation of a redevelopment agreement that will lock in design and mitigation commitments.

Developer representatives said the plan is intended to balance commercial viability with neighborhood character. Jack Pler, attorney for the owner, described the site as “2.3 acres” and said the team sought to reduce density and preserve the front building rather than simply maximize residential units. The development team presented a conceptual plan showing 34 units — about 14.78 units per acre — compared with a by-right potential of up to 46 units under current zoning.

Owner David Waxman, a long-time seasonal resident who lives on Cambridge Avenue, told the commission, “This project means a lot to us. I’ve spent every summer of my life here,” and pledged that the team will work with the city and planning board to refine the project.

Project details presented to the commission included two small parking lots reserved to serve commercial tenants (16 spaces each, 32 total), and three off-street spaces per residential unit (two interior and one exterior) for the townhome lots. The applicants said the conceptual homes would each include three parking spaces and modest backyards; they also said utilities for the new residences are intended to be placed underground.

Commissioners and multiple public commenters pressed for specifics — from the ownership form and homeowners-association rules to stormwater mitigation, phasing, and whether restaurants would be permitted in the front building. The applicants emphasized the plan is conceptual at this stage: detailed architecture, subdivision lines, and site engineering will be decided through planning-board site-plan review and the redevelopment agreement.

The commission’s vote to adopt the redevelopment plan advances the project to the planning board. Officials said the redevelopment agreement, to be negotiated next, is the mechanism that will bind the developer to performance standards (landscaping, parking, restrictions on short-term rentals if included in covenants, and stormwater measures) before final approvals and building permits are issued.

What comes next: With the ordinance adopted, the developer must proceed to planning-board site-plan and subdivision review and negotiate a redevelopment agreement with the city. The planning board will review final layouts, parking, circulation, stormwater compliance and design details; statutory and local stormwater standards remain applicable.