SNOW HILL – Worcester County’s Board of License Commissioners approved expansions at three Ocean City businesses this week.
After four decades in Ocean City, Higgins Crab House at 31st Street will be modernized to include an upstairs deck and bar. Owner Robert Higgins told the board his goal is to create a more inviting atmosphere for the restaurant’s patrons.
“We’re not looking to change our operation in the least,” he said. “We’re a family business. We cater to families. This is simply an enhanced area.”
Higgins said the construction work would also include the installation of fire sprinklers and a new HVAC unit. Once the expansion is complete, he expects to add 15 employees to the restaurant’s summer staff.
Commissioners said their only concern was Higgins’ plan to offer live entertainment in the bar area. Although Higgins wanted just two performers who would entertain until 8:30 p.m., Commission Chairman William Esham said he was concerned the music would have to be loud to be heard over traffic on Coastal Highway.
“We know how fast music can get out of hand,” he said.
The commissioners approved Higgins’ plans but instructed him to install additional speakers throughout the restaurant.
The commissioners also agreed to allow a tiki bar and covered seating area at Pizza Tugos on Route 611. Owner Scott Heise said he wanted to improve the deck at the restaurant, as it tended to get hot in the summer, and to add a bar there since there were relatively few outside bars in West Ocean City.
“We’re finding customers want a better experience,” he said.
Bob Jester, owner of a neighboring property, voiced his support of the concept.
“I’ve seen the plans and think it’s aesthetically pleasing to the corner,” he said.
A request for a number of changes at the Ocean City Brewing Company rounded out the Board of License Commissioners’ Dec. 17 agenda. Owner Josh Shores said in an effort to enhance the brewery’s position as a “Maryland-only craft beer bar” he wanted to begin selling cans and bottles of its beer in addition to the growlers and kegs he was already permitted to market.
“We have growlers,” he said, “but customers want to take bottles and cans home with them.”
In keeping with the restrictions placed on the brewery by the Town of Ocean City, Shores said that even though he would be selling cans and bottles of Ocean City Brewing Company beer it would not be canned or bottled on the site. He said a large dairy truck would be used to transport the beer brewed on the premises to canning facilities elsewhere.
Other changes Shores proposed were increasing the number of televisions in the establishment and adding games — shuffleboard, corn hole and even board games. He said games kept patrons entertained and kept them from bar hopping.
“Bar hopping is dangerous,” he said, referencing the drunk driving and fights that could occur when people spent the evening going from bar to bar. “Entertained crowds are less hostile. We don’t want people jumping from bar to bar.”
Another way Shores hopes to keep patrons in his establishment is by offering live music after the dinner hour. He asked commissioners for permission to offer live music until 2 a.m.
“We don’t want to be a nightclub and we never will be,” he said. “This way they stay. They don’t pack up and leave after dinner.”
Commissioners agreed to allow Shores to host live music until midnight four nights a week.