Ocean Pines Plaza Partnership is proposing a 59-unit housing project named “Outer Banks.” The 14.7-acre site is located about 1,000 feet north of the North Gate entrance to the Ocean Pines community.

By Brian Shane

Staff Writer

(Nov. 5, 2026) Worcester County planning officials have reviewed plans for County Commissioner Eric Fiori’s new commercial boat dealership along Route 50.

The plans were among three projects on the Worcester County Technical Review Committee’s Oct. 14 agenda, alongside a 59-home community near Ocean Pines, and a storage building off Ocean Gateway.

Fiori’s proposal calls for two structures at 11894 Ocean Gateway: a main building with 8,000 square feet for sales, offices, service, and parts, and then an 8,960-square-foot warehouse. The 14-acre wooded property had been home to a drive-in movie theater from 1954 to 1976.

Plans identify a 2,000-square-foot showroom and 6,000 square feet for service and parts, including seven service bays. The lot would be served by a well and septic system. County environmental staff said the warehouse would be used only for dry storage, without utilities.

Fiori (District 3, West Ocean City) lost his original Berlin-area facility almost a year ago in a three-alarm fire. Fire companies from three counties responded to the blaze at the 13,000-square-foot facility on Worcester Highway near Friendship Road. Nobody was hurt.

County zoning staff requested clarification of the new facility’s outdoor display area because different portions of the plans list conflicting sizes, according to documents in the meeting packet.

Staff also noted that the front display lot must meet a 100-foot setback or receive a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Planning Commission is the approving authority for the site plan.

Farther north along Racetrack Road, developer Ocean Pines Plaza Partnership is proposing a 59-unit housing project named “Outer Banks.” The 14.7-acre site is located about 1,000 feet north of the North Gate entrance to the Ocean Pines community.

The concept includes 34 duplex dwellings and 25 townhouses, plus a community center, pool, and playground. Vista Design, the project’s engineer, describes the attached homes as intended to offer a more affordable option than new-construction detached houses.

Water and sewer service remains an outstanding requirement. County environmental staff said the property has no allocations for the proposed homes, and applications to expand the Ocean Pines service area and amend the county’s water and sewer plan were being processed.

The proposal is at the first stage of the residential planned community process, which requires a Planning Commission recommendation and a public hearing before the Worcester County Commissioners.

The proposal is not impacted by the commissioners’ ongoing 12-month moratorium on new rezoning applications along Route 589, according to county planning director Jennifer Keener.

The third project heard by the Technical Review Committee is a warehouse storage building proposed by Fisher Family Partnership at 11502 Ocean Gateway.

The narrow parcel sits between Route 50 and Samuel Bowen Boulevard. It used to house an old farmhouse that’s since been demolished, and its well and septic system were properly abandoned, according to county environmental staff.

The review committee approved the minor site plan, subject to addressing staff comments and obtaining any necessary Planning Commission waivers.

Zoning staff said Planning Commission waivers would be needed for gravel parking and driving areas and omission of required landscape screening.