Boardwalk Skate Law Now Official

Boardwalk Skate Law Now Official
Boardwalk3

OCEAN CITY – Skateboarding is officially legal on Ocean City’s Boardwalk for transportation purposes following a Mayor and City Council meeting on Monday evening when the council voted to have the mayor pass the law as an emergency and he agreed.

Last week, the council voted to draft an ordinance that would allow skateboarding, for transportation purposes only, on the Boardwalk during the same off-season schedule that bicycles are allowed.

The law regarding skateboarding will transform from being unlawful for any person to operate a skateboard on the Boardwalk at any time to the following times.

From Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, between the hours of 2-11 a.m. Springfest and Sunfest, which are held Thursdays through Sundays, it will be permitted between the hours of 2 a.m.-noon. Also, it shall be unlawful for any person to operate a skateboard on the seawall, railings or benches on or adjacent to the Boardwalk at any time.

The item that remains the same within the law that it is unlawful for a person to operate a skateboard on any public street, public way, Boardwalk ramp, public alley, public sidewalk, public lots or any other public property, except for public skateboard facilities and public sponsored or authorized skateboard events, within the corporate limits of Ocean City between April 1 and Oct. 1 of each year.

“It is a good time of the year to try this … we can change this ordinance at any time and if we find that it is not compatible on the boardwalk and there are problems than we can address it before next year but let’s give it a real opportunity starting now,” Mayor Rick Meehan said on Monday night.

Allowing skateboarding on the Boardwalk follows in a trend the council is setting in modernizing town ordinances.

It all began in July when a brief ban took place on the use of body boards on Ocean City’s beaches, enraging local residents and visitors, but was quickly lifted when city officials realized the town code was formed in 1972 and a simple fix would be to modernize the language within the law.

The Mayor and City Council voted to change the law and the definition of “boogie” board was replaced with a “soft top body board”, which is now described as a flexible semi-soft, buoyant, semi-curved object, no longer than 54 inches long, no wider than two feet, not thicker than four inches.

On Tuesday, a group of skateboarders held a ceremonial first ride in an event organized by OC Shore Magazine and attended by some Mayor and Council members.