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Saturday, January 13, 2018

Special Event Zone Idea Advances With Legislation Planned In Annapolis

OCEAN CITY — Legislation creating special enforcement zones to help stem some of the issues associated with the mobilized special events in Ocean City will be introduced in this General Assembly session.

After several troubling motorized special events in Ocean City, resort officials began exploring ways to curb some of the illicit activity associated with the events. Last November, it was standing room only in the Mayor and Council chamber as the elected officials got their first look at a list of recommendations from the police commission that included eliminating or at least curtailing some of the motorized special events.

The council took no action immediate action, instead opting to have the mayor appoint a task force to begin a deeper dive into some of the proposed solutions.

The task force met for the first time in December with a marathon opening session during which any and all ideas were on the table. A recurring theme during the first task force was the creation of special events enforcement zones, akin to the familiar school zones or highway work zones, where fines and other penalties can be enhanced.

Out of that first task force meeting was a desire to have the town’s representatives in Annapolis seek legislation creating special enforcement zones in the resort during the various motorized special events that would allow the Ocean City Police Department and its allied agencies enhance the penalties for certain illegal activities.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard through the grapevine that Rt. 13 Drag way was going to open a venue for the rodders to race each other. This kind of thing is the MOST COMMON SENSE solution to calming down the street scene in OC ever thought of.

I hope this is true. I'll buy tickets to that all day long!

Anonymous said...

So, our ONLY MD city along the Atlantic Ocean needs state legislature produced, agreed upon and put into law - sets of rules to govern daily business during an off season weekend.

Good ol' Mayor Fish Powell is laughing loudly at City Hall right now. Not to mention his disgust on how things cannot get done on a responsible basis - let alone the embarrassment of empty hotel rooms during the summer months.

At least City Hall can claim soon that they built their median wall first!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

The Town idiots blame everyone but themselves. OC in the downtown area is noman's land during these motor weekends. Cops simply hide to avoid enforcing traffic laws. The result is gridlock downtown like every year before it. If EXISTING laws were enforced, there would NOT be a problem.