The Ocean Pines community will clearly be the most impacted by the county’s new rental regulations. Though well intended, as is the case with most new laws, enforcement is going to be the challenge.At this week’s public hearing on a bill, which would limit occupancy (one occupant per 50 square feet of bedroom floor space),… Read more »
Worcester County has shown an incredible lack of compassion toward the residents of White Horse Park. It came to surface this week why that might be the case.After last month’s decision to reject a text amendment to give some of the residents the ability to live there year-round despite the current law prohibiting it, the… Read more »
Worcester County Commissioners Chip Bertino and Jim Bunting had to get some things off their chest this week. They wanted to make it clear there was no “deal” made among the commissioners over the summer to obtain Commissioner Josh Nordstrom’s support for a room tax increase.For a period of a few weeks this summer, it… Read more »
It’s been about a month since I spent a week on the Boardwalk in Ocean City with my family and another family from South Carolina. The “staycation” was a great opportunity for some field research on Ocean City. Some of my takeaways included: We stayed on the Boardwalk at 4th Street in an Airbnb the… Read more »
Though Maryland’s next legislative session is still four months away, the groundwork has begun to keep school systems from opening before Labor Day weekend.Within a matter of hours yesterday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan sent an email seeking funding help to fight the legislature on the matter and the results of a survey on the economic… Read more »
More than 20 years ago, Worcester County embarked on a visioning campaign for the future called “Worcester 2000.” The quasi-strategic planning effort was largely geared toward development and much of the debate centered on Route 50. In the end, most of the effort turned out to be a waste of time and money with the… Read more »
I wonder how many reporters Ocean City Solicitor Guy Ayres spoke to over the course of his 37 years on the job. I venture a guess of 80. I wonder how many dumb questions he was asked during that time. It’s at least 1,000, including a dozen or so from me.I recall several occasions as… Read more »
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan put his two cents in on the future of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge this week, opining additional spans elsewhere in Maryland are out of his consideration. Hogan made it clear he would only support adding another span to the existing bridge.“There is only one option I will ever accept: adding a… Read more »
In a veiled threat to not vote for a proposed room tax increase this spring, Worcester County Commissioner Josh Nordstrom was playing politics. It was obvious and he’s fine with everyone knowing it.Nordstrom was most likely never going to vote against raising the room tax from 4.5% to 5% — an 11% percent increase –… Read more »
For about 20 minutes on Wednesday, a traffic nightmare appeared imminent in and around Ocean City. The State Highway Administration had announced an intention to close the Route 50 Bridge beginning at 1:30 p.m. with no plans to reopen until later in the night. That announcement came after the drawbridge malfunctioned early that morning.Evidently, in… Read more »
