John Lambros
restaurateur and property owner · active 1937–
The man at the centre of Ocean City's hardest-fought building permit of 1937. On 15 April the council let him drive piling for a 45-by-96 building on Lot 9, Block 5 North, expressly without approving the building or its uses; the neighbours — among them the Shoreham Hotel, the Wheatton and Barton estates, L. E. Neal Jr. and R. E. Rouse — were summoned to a hearing on 30 April, where F. W. Truitt spoke against the restaurant and Mrs. H. J. Cropper for the permit. A fresh application then specified two upper floors of fourteen apartments over a ground floor of restaurant, soda fountain, novelty store, notions and confections, and on 3 May the permit passed two to one, Laws dissenting each time. In June the town assessed him $8,000 on personal property, the largest personal assessment on the 1937 book.
In the record (3)
1937 · 1937-05-03
Three meetings, a public hearing and a 2-1 vote: how John Lambros got permission to put fourteen apartments and a soda fountain on Atlantic Avenue
On 15 April 1937 Councilman Scott moved 'that Permission be granted John Lambros to drive piling for a building 45 X 96 on Lot #9 Block #5 North', the building to be kept back of the present Atlantic Avenue building and porch lines, 'it being understood that the building to be erected is not yet Approved for lack of Sufficient information Nor are the purposes for which the building is to be used approved.' Townsend and Scott voted aye, Laws no. On 26 April the council set a hearing for Friday evening and the secretary notified the neighbours by name - the Shoreham Hotel, Percy Hickling, R. E. and Bertha Rouse, Chas. Seybold, Dale Showell, Mrs. Fooks, Elsie Seeger Barton, Fred Wolf for the Wheatton estate, L. E. Neal Jr. and Hattie Cropper. At the hearing on 30 April, Frank W. Truitt 'spoke opposing the restaurant, on behalf of Wheatton & Barton Property'; Mrs. H. J. Cropper spoke for granting the permit; letters against came from L. E. Neal Jr. and R. E. Rouse. A new application was then filed 'stating That Building was for 2 upper floors for 14 Apartments lower floor for Restaurant Soda Fountain, novelty store, notions & Confections are only business to be operated on the premises.' On 3 May the permit was granted, Scott and Townsend yes, Laws no. Two months later Lambros was assessed $8,000 on personal property, the largest such figure on the 1937 book.
The Shoreham Hotel / Shenanigan's Irish PubWilliam H. ScottFrancis J. TownsendW. Preston LawsF. W. TruittHarry J. Cropper
Source · checked 2026-08-11
1937 · 1937-07-13
Ocean City held its tax rate at a dollar on the hundred for a fourth straight year, and exactly one taxpayer turned up to complain
On 29 June 1937 the council listed the year's new and increased assessments and sent notice to every owner on it of a meeting on 13 July 'for to hear any complaints of why the property should not be assessed as listed for year of 1937 taxes'. Among them: Wallace & Jarman, improvements on restaurant and apartments, $3,000; S. Dodd Shuster, bungalow and garage, $4,000; Clarence Carey, dance hall, $1,000; Samuel and Belle Adams, house, $4,800; John Lambros, personal, $8,000 - the largest personal assessment on the page; W. C. Pool, floating houses on lots, $100 each, $600 in all; 'Royalton (Kelly)', personal, $2,000; Rudolph Dolle, body shop, $650; Harry J. Cropper, work shop, $1,000; and Elizabeth Hufford's apartments raised from $3,000 to $4,800. A shorter list of property 'marked off for 1937' cut the Jester, Kelly, Magel, Mumford and Massey books. On 13 July, 'Sam Ayers was only one appeared asking for reduction of 100 on personal in small house and reduction was made.' The council then made 'tax levy for 1937 ... 10.00 Thousand' - one dollar on the hundred, unanimously, the same rate it had held in 1934, 1935 and 1936. — 1938 FULL PASS, 2026-08-11 [confirmed]: And then it did not. The run of four years at a dollar on the hundred ended on 21 June 1938, when the Ocean City council passed the 1938 levy at 85 cents per $100 on Dr. Townsend's motion seconded by Preston Laws - a cut of fifteen per cent, after a discussion on 31 May of cutting twenty that reached no decision.
W. Preston LawsWilliam H. ScottHarry J. CropperRudolph DolleW. C. PoolClarence CareyEthel Kelley
Source · checked 2026-08-11
1938 · 1938-05-10
Ocean City's new assessments for 1938 ran from $400 for a house on an alley to $25,000 for John Lambros's building at South and Atlantic
On 10 May 1938 the council ordered notices of new assessment sent to twenty-six owners for the 1938 levy, and the clerk wrote the list into the book. The largest were John Lambros, $25,000, for a building at South and Atlantic Avenue; Harry and Ethel Kelly, $11,000, for an addition to the Royalton; C. H. and Mary F. Benson, $11,000, for an apartment on Ninth Street; Bay Heights Development Co., $10,000; and C. Parker Smith, $10,000 for an apartment and its furniture. In the middle: Mrs. J. Ada Beardsworth's bungalow on Tenth at $5,000, John A. Price's apartment at $5,000, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Johnson's house on Sixth at $7,500, Curtis W. Long at $4,500, Carroll H. and Marion Mumford at $3,600, three Baltimore Avenue houses in the Dennis and Carroll families at $3,000 to $3,500, Chas. Arthur Holloway at $2,800, Capt. Elisha V. Bunting's bungalow at $1,000. The smallest was Sam and Della Ayres, $400, 'House on alley'. A second and shorter list followed on 21 June, and five assessments were 'marked off' - R. R. Dennis $2,000 of personal stock, Davis & Lynch $1,000, Howard Truitt $1,000, J. D. Jarman $900 personal, and the R. C. Quillen estate.
Ethel KelleyElisha Victor BuntingJames D. JarmanC. Parker Smith
Source · checked 2026-08-11