OCEAN CITY – The 2022 Maryland General Assembly session closed with sine die last Monday with several weighty statewide issues resolved and a handful of bills germane to the local area making it through.
The session closed with a flourish last Monday as state lawmakers closed the books on another session. After two years of COVID restrictions and Zoom hearings, the 2022 General Assembly session represented somewhat of a return to normal this year. During the session, legislators debated and voted on thousands of pieces of legislation, including some of local importance, which breezed through with unanimous votes.
For example, a bill that would allow family farmers in Worcester County to diversify and take advantage of the growing agritourism market breezed through the state Senate and House and was signed by Gov. Larry Hogan last week.
Senate Bill 32, pre-filed by State Senator Mary Beth Carozza (R-38) and cross-filed in the House by Delegate Wayne Hartman (R-38C), will add Worcester County to the list of 18 other jurisdictions around the state in which farm structures used for the growing agritourism industry would be exempt from certain building code requirements.
As the name implies, agritourism includes any activity that links traditional agriculture production to tourism and draws visitors onto a farm, such as corn mazes, pumpkin patches, barn weddings or winery tastings, for example. The legislation was strongly supported by the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, Worcester County Tourism, the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association and the Maryland Tourism Commission among other advocacy groups. The bill passed on a 45-0 vote in the Senate and a 135-0 vote in the House.
“The Worcester County agritourism legislation allows for a successful tool to give more local farm families the opportunity to offer agritourism activities on their farms,” said Carozza. “It’s a win-win for both the farm families who may need to diversify and pull in additional revenue just to keep the farm, and for tourists who will have more opportunities to explore and experience our local farms.”
Another bill of local importance that was passed unanimously by state legislators will allow for limited expansion or repairs to town-owned structures on the east side of the Boardwalk. The bill filed by Carozza and Hartman will amend the state’s old beach erosion control district to allow for the repair or replacement of a structure on the east side of the Boardwalk owned by the Town of Ocean City or the state of Maryland only. The catalyst for the bill are needed repairs at the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum, although there are other applications.
Last year, the General Assembly adopted the capital budget which included $600,000 for improvements to the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum to bring the century-old-plus building into Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance along with meeting current fire codes. The building was a working lifesaving station in the early 1900s and was moved to the end of the Boardwalk were it was converted to a museum.
It has remained unchanged for decades, however, and while the building maintains its quaint charm, the facility has somewhat outgrown is usefulness as a public museum. There are ADA issues that need to be addressed and the historic building is often bursting at the seams with various exhibits, offices, restrooms, a gift shop and other uses.
However, without a legislative change to the decades-old beach erosion control district, improvements to the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum cannot be made and the $600,000 appropriated by the state last year cannot be expended. To that end, Carozza filed Senate Bill 64 and Hartman cross-filed House Bill 1300 in an effort to amend the beach erosion control district regulations to allow for certain improvements with specific limitations, and the bills breezed through the legislature.
Another bill of local importance that was approved by state lawmakers will clarify the rules for developing a shrimp fishery pilot program in the state with implications for the resort area and the Lower Shore.
Shrimp, a staple on most resort area restaurant menus, has heretofore always been considered a southern transport and hasn’t been targeted for commercial harvesting in Maryland. However, in recent years, shrimp have been showing up more and more in local waters, off the Atlantic coastline and in the lower end of the Chesapeake Bay.
To that end, last year the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation that would allow the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to create a pilot program to establish a commercial shrimp fishery in the state.
Last year’s bill established a potential pilot program for a commercial shrimp industry. This year, a companion bill filed in the Senate and House will create a framework by which the pilot program could be implemented by the DNR.
