ATLANTIC CITY — The Atlantic City of the future will include taller casinos, resort development on Atlantic Avenue and a one-way Pacific Avenue.
At least, those are some of the highlights of the new master plan that is expected next month, city Planning Director Bill Crane said.
At this point, the city and planners Karabashian Eddington Planning Group are working on the final details. The firm has worked on the plan since council approved its $300,000 contract in March 2005.
Partner Thomas Eddington did not return a call seeking comment.
Casino height restrictions are a holdover from Bader Field, which closed in September. Although the historic airport was too small for all but recreational prop planes, some of those planes on final approach flew through the Boardwalk casino zone; therefore, heights in the Boardwalk-front Resort Commercial Development zone were limited to 385 feet.
Crane said the new limits would be between 700 and 800 feet, or about double the old restrictions.
The first building to benefit will apparently be a planned condominium complex next to Boardwalk Hall on Florida Avenue.
At last week’s Planning Board meeting, SOSH Architects said the 43-story complex would rise about 630 feet. The city’s redevelopment plan for the site said the maximum height would be capped at 700 feet.
Others have already crashed through the ceiling.
In March, the city passed an ordinance that would set heights in the Southeast Inlet’s Revel Redevelopment Area at 800 feet.
Revel Entertainment is currently building a casino on land bounded by the Boardwalk and New Jersey, Oriental and Connecticut avenues. Morgan Stanley subsidiary Ventura AC LLC owns the land.
Casinos in the marina district have long had more generous height restrictions than Boardwalk-front buildings. The city passed an ordinance in March 2006 that lifted the maximum height to 560 feet. Both Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and Harrah’s Atlantic City are building towers there.
It is unclear if the new height rules also would apply to the extended casino zone along Atlantic Avenue in parts of the Chelsea neighborhood.
Crane confirmed that the city is looking at extending the casino zone from Albany Avenue through parts of Chelsea. He said the current discussion focuses on where the zone would end.
The resort’s geography is part of the reason, Crane said. The curve of the shoreline means the casino zone is far broader in the South Inlet than in downbeach areas. This would give downbeach operators looking to expand, including the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, more land to work with.
Previously, casinos had to seek exemptions. After three days of zoning hearings, the Tropicana Casino and Resort was granted an exemption, and then spent a year in court defending the decision that allowed the Quarter to proceed. It won in 2002.
The Resort Service zone, which allows 160-foot buildings, already covers most of the area. It extends between Providence and Michigan avenues and is designed to bridge the gap between the casino zone and the crowded neighborhoods north of Atlantic Avenue.
Finally, Crane confirmed the master plan that calls for making Pacific Avenue a one-way street, heading eastbound.
The narrow road connects the resort’s casinos, but turning traffic and heedless pedestrians can make it slow going. Previous proposals have said changing traffic patterns would clear gridlock and spur development in the uptown neighborhoods.
The city has literally pondered this move for a century, but since 1906 has always shelved it in the face of opposition.
Previous Govs. Christie Todd Whitman and James E. McGreevey supported the measure, with McGreevey calling it a 2001 campaign goal.
The strongest opposition is expected from the Atlantic City Jitney Association. The one-way traffic would mean jitneys would have to use the wider Atlantic Avenue on return trips.
“I hope not,” Jitney Association President Manny Mathioudakis said, “because that would be really bad for us.”
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