Ocean City has settled litigation with Klause Enterprises by agreeing to pay $20 million for a former car dealership property at 16th Street and Simpson Avenue, more than twice the amount agreed to in a 2018 deal. According to the Cape May County Herald, in 2018 the city agreed to pay the owners $9 million for the property. A citizen group, Fairness in Taxes, opposed the deal, arguing that the city was paying too much for the land, and started a petition drive to place the decision to purchase the property for that price on the ballot for voters to decide. The petition drive was successful and, as a result, the city withdrew its offer. Having lost the ability to purchase the property, the city employed the process of eminent domain to take it over. The law requires that the city pay the owner fair market value; determining that value has been the issue in the courts.