OCEAN CITY – With the deadline for bringing non-conforming signs in the downtown area into compliance already extended, resort officials continue to examine which are still subject to modification, and letters will soon be sent out to property owners explaining their options.
During Tuesday’s joint meeting between the Mayor and Council and the Ocean City Planning Commission, the issue of non-conforming signs in the downtown area was broached yet again. In 2006, the council passed an ordinance asserting all non-conforming signs in the downtown area should be brought into compliance by November 2022.
The signs in question are not code compliant for a variety of reasons. Some do not meet the code in terms of height or size, while others infringe on roadway rights-of-way, for example. The issue is further complicated by the pending redevelopment of the Baltimore Avenue corridor from North Division Street to 15th Street, an area where some of the non-compliant signs are located.
As part of that project, which includes the undergrounding of utilities, widening of sidewalks and an overall streetscape design, the town is in the process of abandoning and conveying an unused portion of the Baltimore Avenue right-of-way to the private sector property owners in that area. Many of the non-compliant signs downtown are located within the project area.
However, projected costs and other issues related to the redevelopment of Baltimore Avenue have pushed that timetable for the project back. To that end, at a joint meeting between the Mayor and Council and the planning commission is late September, it was decided to push the deadline for bringing non-conforming signs into compliance back one year.
In the months since, Planning and Community Development Director Bill Neville and staff have been exploring non-compliant signs in the downtown area south of 3rd Street. The concept is a comprehensive approach to addressing all non-compliant signs in the downtown area and not limiting the scope to just the section of Baltimore Avenue slated for redevelopment. During Tuesday’s second joint session between the Mayor and Council and the planning commission, Neville explained his staff has been directing their efforts at the area south of 3rd Street, and letters to the property owners whose signs are in question are pending.
“In our last meeting, we discussed the non-conforming signs in the downtown area below 3rd Street,” he said. “We’re in the midst of a comprehensive review of the entire downtown area.”
Neville said on Tuesday each situation is unique and letters to property owners in the downtown area with non-conforming signs will not likely be cookie-cutter.
“What we’ve learned is we really need a specified letter to property owners over the non-conforming signs,” he said. “Some are oversized, some are too high, and some are just in the wrong area. We just had a meeting with the OCDC (Ocean City Development Corporation) this morning about digital signs, and that’s another whole issue. Everything south of 3rd Street is being considered. It’s a difficult process.”
Mayor Rick Meehan said the process to bring non-conforming signs in the downtown area into compliance has been a long one and predates the council’s latest ordinance passed in 2006.
“In 2002 when we first explored this, we put everybody on notice the sunset date was approaching,” he said. “That was 20 years ago. It was difficult. It came down to each individual case and each individual sign. There are some cases where businesses found loopholes and have taken advantage of the opportunity.”
With the Baltimore Avenue redevelopment project stalled, Councilman Peter Buas suggested the one-year extension to bring non-conforming signs into compliance for those property owners should be afforded to other property owners in the downtown area with non-compliant signs.
“Now that the Baltimore Avenue project is four years in, is a one-year deadline extension long enough?” he said. “Maybe we should take a closer look at this, and the extension should be four years.”
