OCEAN CITY — With the clock now ticking on the spring Cruisin’ event, the Mayor and Council last week advanced an ordinance requiring registered participants to purchase a permit for parking oversized trailers on city streets to second reading as an emergency ordinance at the request of the show’s producer.
As part of the ongoing effort to rein in some of the behavior associated with the vehicle-related special events, including but not limited to the spring and fall Cruisin’ events and Bike Week, for example, the council last fall proposed an ordinance allowing only those officially registered for the events to purchase a permit and sticker to park oversized trailers on certain city streets. The sticker would have to be prominently displayed on the trailer and those “hangers on” not registered for the event would not be allowed to purchase them.
In the months since the ordinance was first proposed, its various elements have been debated and tweaked at the Police Commission level and by the council several times before a final version was deemed ready for approval. Last Tuesday, the council approved the ordinance on first reading, but not before declaring it an emergency ordinance at the request of producer Bob Rothermel and TEAM Productions, which hosts the spring and fall Cruisin’ events.
Rothermel implored the council to expedite the approval process with the clock ticking on the spring event and potential participants waiting anxiously for the final version of the trailer ordinance before committing.
“We’re 79 days from the event,” he said on March 1. “I hope you can consider this as an emergency ordinance. We’re on track to sell out, but some people are holding off because they don’t know if they will have space for their trailer or how they can get space.”
Boiled down to its simplest terms, the proposed ordinance would allow only registered participants to park trailers on public streets from May 1 to Oct. 31 after purchasing a permit and affixing it to their trailers. Those hot rod and motorcycle enthusiasts who come to the resort but don’t formally register for the events would not be allowed to purchase the permits and would have to park their trailers on certain municipal lots, private property with the permission of the owner or the Park-and-Ride in West Ocean City, for example.
Under the revised ordinance, no trailer parking, permits or otherwise, would be allowed on narrow Baltimore Avenue because of public safety concerns. Violators found parking trailers on public streets without a permit would be subject to a $250 fine for each day.
Under the language of the ordinance, those who don’t move their trailers after receiving citations could have their oversized vehicles “booted,” or immobilized, until the paid the fines. The town and its police department would only tow a trailer as a measure of last resort, such as an obvious traffic obstruction or public safety hazard.
From the beginning, Councilman Matt James has questioned many elements of the proposed ordinance. James, a north-end hotel manager, questioned the wisdom of the new policy.
“I think we should allow people who aren’t part of the show to get trailer parking permits,” he said. “I’m not against this ordinance, I just think the permits should be made available to people who aren’t part of the event.”
After considerable debate, the council voted 4-1 to advance the ordinance to second reading as an emergency ordinance with James opposed. The ordinance will have a second reading at the council’s March 15 meeting.
