OCEAN CITY — A pair of companion bills in the General Assembly creating special event zones with enhanced penalties in response to some of the motorized special events moved closer to fruition this week with passage by the full House of Delegates.
After a troublesome motorized special events season last year, Ocean City officials formed a task force to begin exploring ways to deter or even eliminate some of illicit behavior. One potential remedy to come out of those early task force discussions was legislation allowing for the creation of special enforcement zones during the events with enhanced penalties, reduced speed limits and other enforcement tools. Essentially, the special enforcement zones would be akin to school zones or highway construction zones, for example.
Senator Jim Mathias (D-38) introduced Senate Bill 872, which would allow a local jurisdiction, Worcester County or Ocean City in this case, to create special events enforcement zones. That bill breezed through the full Senate late last month with a 46-0 vote and crossed over the House for deliberation.
Meanwhile, the cross-filed House Bill 1406 filed by Delegate Mary Beth Carozza cruised through its committee vote and was passed on Wednesday by the full House with a 136-1 vote. That bill has now been sent back to the Senate committee to reconcile an amendment attached. Carozza said the full House was expected to pass the Senate version on Thursday.
“This important public safety bill would give our law enforcement the additional tools they need to control the unlawful, reckless and dangerous behavior that Ocean City and the surrounding area has experienced with certain major motor events,” Carozza said on Thursday.
The bill defines special event zones and allows local jurisdictions, in this case Ocean City, to establish special enforcement areas akin to construction zones or school zones, for example, where penalties can be enhanced for certain illicit behavior.
According to the language in the bill, the State Highway Administration (SHA) on its own initiative or at the request of a local authority, designated an area on a state highway as a special event zone. In addition, the local authority, in this case the town of Ocean City, can designate any area on a highway under its jurisdiction as a special event zone.
The bill would allow speed limit reductions in areas designated as special event zones. Particularly, the bill’s language states the local authority may “reduce established speed limits in the special event zone after a determination that the change is necessary to ensure public safety.” A person convicted of violating the speed limit posted in the special event zone is subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000.
However, the amended version approved by the full Senate this week does not include enhanced penalties for reckless driving or aggressive driving in designated special event zones, although those violations are fairly covered by existing laws under most conditions. Perhaps more importantly, the bill approved by the Senate was passed as emergency legislation, meaning if it makes it through the House as expected and goes to the governor for final approval, it could be in place for the spring motorized special event season in the resort, most notably the spring cruising event.
With the cross-filed bills now approved by both the Senate and House with only some of the language related to the attached amendments to reconcile, it appears the special events zone legislation is on the face track to full approval. The session concludes on Monday at midnight.
