OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
JANUARY 28, 2022
ZONE FIGHT CRITICAL AREA CHANGING? Berlin residents trying to stop reclassification of protected land off Route 611 – Page 14
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Worker housing gets OK Where’s all the chicken? Planning com. clears one project, seeks ways to bring more
By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (Jan. 28, 2022) From teen raves to jump scares to Insta-worthy backdrops, the building that sits at 14 Worcester St. in downtown Ocean City has provided many types of entertainment for seasonal visitors. And now, after all of the amusements have gone dark, a developer is gearing up to turn the building into a place to house the people who serve and accommodate those summertime visitors. The proposed project, which garnered unanimous
approval on Jan. 19 from members of the city’s planning commission after a long discussion, is a twostory, 19-room dormitorystyle structure with the ability to house about 78 seasonal foreign workers and a house manager. The lack of housing for seasonal employees is one of the resort’s most perplexing problems right now, which is why this project, and an array of others planned for completion for the next two summers, are highly anticipated. Planning commissioners have run into challenges when voting on these types of projects, though, and are looking into a code amendment that would help make the process more seamless.
In the meantime, they are working with the tools they have, which in the case of the Worcester Street property, meant tacking some conditions onto the site plan approval. The conditions included requiring a signed lease with an Ocean City employer to house workers for their business, and obligating the builder to divide the sleeping areas with full walls that run to the ceiling. The wall requirement was a concern for the developers, who originally proposed dividing the space with partitions. The cubicle-style dividers were proposed to See WORKER Page 8
County delays sprinkler vote Commissioners want to hear AG’s opinion on mobile home regs By Jack Chavez Staff Writer (Jan. 28, 2022) Worces- Jim Bunting Chip Bertino ter County is going to wait to see what the Maryland At- vote on Jan. 18. torney General has to say Commissioners Joe before deciding whether to Mitrecic and Jim Bunting enforce a law that requires opposed the measure. manufactured homes built “Currently we are allowafter July 2015 to have fire ing manufactured homes to be installed with sprinklers sprinkler systems. The county commission- as long as the folks who are ers also are awaiting the at- installing them acknowledge torney general’s opinion on that they might be responsiwhether certain exceptions ble for retrofitting them in can be granted under the the future,” County Attorney grandfather rule. The deci- Roscoe Leslie told the comsion to wait came after a 4-2 missioners. “We’ve had
about eight installed since we’ve been allowing it.” Leslie added that he emailed the attorney general the week before but was told that their inquiry had been “queued” and speculated it could be weeks or months before they hear back. And it’s already been months. Last May, the Worcester County Fire Marshal’s Office stated it didn’t think sprinklers were required in manufactured homes, but that there were no changes of actual laws or regulations. In September, the commissioners passed a resolution based on the fire marshal’s position and knew See COUNTY Page 9
Some days it’s in stock, some days it isn’t, but no chicken shortage exists
By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Jan. 28, 2022) It’s NFL playoff time, and what better way to watch the game than with your favorite beverage and a plate of hot chicken wings. But wait! Many of the local grocery stores, if you have not noticed, have a gap in the meat section between pork and beef, where the poultry products normally chill until the shopper, you, picks up the package of chicken and tosses it into the basket. Before you begin to think there is a chicken shortage, like many others before you, the issue is a little more complicated than that. “We know that customers may be having a little difficulty finding what they want and the quantities they want,” James Fisher, the communications manager for the Delmarva Chicken Association said on Tuesday. “It’s something the chicken industry is working hard to resolve. There’s a lot more to what customers see in stores than just a chicken shortage.” Formerly known as the Delmarva Poultry InSee CHICKEN Page 10
Ocean City man kills roommate in stabbing By Greg Wehner first- and second-deStaff Writer gree murder, first- and (Jan. 28, 2022) An second-degree assault, Ocean City man faces and reckless endangermurder charges after ment. he stabbed his roomRobins is accused of killing Nicholas mate in the neck with a 10-inch steak knife at a Sherronte Robins Pittman, 37, of Ocean motel in West Ocean City, who was found City on Monday. lying in the parking lot of the Sherronte Maurice Robins, Rambler Motel on Elm Street 40, of Ocean City was arrested in West Ocean City just after by State Police at 10:30 p.m. 4:30 p.m. on Monday. on Monday and charged with See ARREST Page 12
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Ocean City Today
JANUARY 28, 2022
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Dredging continues off Assateague Island By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Jan. 28, 2022) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started working on improving the navigability of Ocean City Inlet and the Assateague bypass this week, and plan to be in the area for the next month. Brittany Crissman, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Army Corps Baltimore District, said the dredge MURDEN arrived in Ocean City on Jan. 21 and then spent the next two and a half days dredging the inlet channel. As soon as it was finished inside the inlet, the dredge moved off the coast of Assateague Island to clear shoaling in what’s known as the Assateague bypass. The MURDEN was last seen in the area back in September, when the dredge cleared sand from the inlet and bypass and moved the material just south of the inlet and offshore from Assateague Island to counter erosion along the beach. The sand was placed approximately 3,500 feet south of the south jetty, and area that is typically deprived of sand. The littoral drift of sand moves from north to south along the Ocean City beach. But because of the jetty system, sand piles up north of the rocks and the rest is either sucked into the inlet by an incoming tide or pushed past the jetties before further down the beach. Work being done over the next month is also expected to counteract erosion to the south of the south jetty. Crews will dredge continuously for 24 hours a day, removing sand from in and around the channel, with a strong emphasis on shoals.
PHOTO COURTESY NATALEE DEHART
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dredge MURDEN arrived in Ocean City on Jan. 21 to pump sand out of the main channel, before moving off of Assateague Island to address shoaling and help build the beaches back up.
According to Crissman, the dredging is separate from another project that will address a deep scour hole in Sinepuxent Bay just west of the inlet near Homer Gudelsky Park. Last August, the corps held a public meeting at the Berlin library to discuss its plans to shift the inlet channel into deeper water while connecting to the Assateague breakwater and the Sinepuxent Channel. As part of that plan, the corps was looking for public input on whether to fill the underwater pit that is approximately 20-feet deep, then top it off with rocks or prefabricated stone mattresses to ensure the fill remains in place. An alternative solution, which
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would improve water flow throughout the bay the most, was to cap the hole and remove a mid-channel shoal in the bay. Neither of those solutions have moved forward, to date. Instead, the environmental assess-
ment of the scour hole study is being finalized, Crissman explained, which will include data “soon to be received” from the Corps of Engineersresearch and development modelers, who reviewed the observations and a sea-level rise analysis.
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JANUARY 28, 2022
Ocean City Today
Paying it forward to give funding to area skateparks
PHOTO COURTESY JAY GRAYBILL
Lifelong skater Jay Graybill, seated among his personal collection of rare regional skateboards, is giving back to local facilities available for youths to embrace the sport.
By Greg Ellison Staff Writer (Jan. 28, 2022) Eastern Shore skateboard enthusiast Jay Graybill, who formerly operated Exodus Skate Park on Old Ocean City Boulevard, is donating funds to support skate facilities in Ocean Pines, Ocean City, Salisbury and a proposed site in Berlin. “It’s strictly out of my pocket,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.” From 1999 to 2006, Graybill, along with business partners William Dyer and Ken Waymouth, operated the indoor skate park Exodus . “We opened an indoor skate park where the Tractor Supply is right now,” he said. “Ever since we’ve shut down, I’ve always wanted to do something with the community to give back.” The skateboarding trio bonded while coming of age in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Graybill began his infatuation with four-wheeled boards in 1984 and nearly 40 years later remains passionate about the sport. “We all grew up skating together,” he said. In the late 1990s, Dyer was the first of the group to relocate to the beach. “Dyer moved down here first and he wanted us to come down because there was a great skate scene down here already going on,” he said. In short order, the friends reunited on the shore and embarked upon a new vision. “There was a great scene down here, but there was no indoor skate park,” he said. The business partners tapped an old cohort, Keith Consylman, to manage the new business. “Keith moved down a little before we started Exodus and he was manager,” he said. Graybill said the resort became a prime spot among skateboarders from the pastime’s earliest days. “Ocean City was an epicenter,” he said. Despite announcing the list of donations last week, Graybill is still ascertaining funding levels for Ocean City, while committing to pony up $2,000 for Berlin’s proposed facility and $1,500 for the still expanding Salisbury Skate Park. “I live in Ocean Pines and I’m literally in the center of all three of them,” he said. Graybill is waiting to learn more about the proposed re-development of Ocean City’s Downtown Recreation Complex between 3rd and 4th streets, which is home to the Ocean Bowl Skate Park. “I don’t know anything about their revenue … what comes in and what they can use,” he said. Regardless of plans for the Ocean
JANUARY 28, 2022
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Ocean City Today
Graybill realizes long-held goal to lend aid City Downtown Recreation Complex, Graybill intends to support the Ocean Bowl. “I was hoping they would never tear that place down because it’s sacred ground,” he said. “It’s the oldest municipal run skate park in the whole country.” Graybill estimated hordes of youths have ridden the ramps and curves at the Ocean Bowl Skate Park. “Every single pro from the ’80s has been to Ocean City,” he said. The Salisbury Skate Park, which opened in December 2015 and was later expanded in June 2018, is set to launch
a final phase of construction. “They already have two phases of the skate park up and going,” he said. Graybill said Salisbury officials scheduled a public hearing this week to receive input on design details from residents. “I’m not sure when they will break ground,” he said. “I was there for the original groundbreaking.” In a similar spirt to the skate park proposal in Berlin, Graybill is looking to lend backing without strings attached. “People have been awesome who are involved and I’m not trying to muscle
my way in and run the show,” he said. “I’m strictly giving donations from one skateboarder to the skateboard community.” Along with donations for skate parks in Ocean Pines, Ocean City, Salisbury and future plans in Berlin, Graybill is also hoping to send funding to his hometown Lancaster County Skate Park. During his youth, which was prior to the skate park being built, Graybill was among a clique of boarders who frequented the Outfitter Ski Shop, which also doubled as a skate retailer.
The dual-purpose business attracted an array of youths to a back parking lot area where a curb was repurposed for maneuvers. “We did that for hours on end for years and years,” he said. “We ground it down to literally the rebar.” To Graybill’s amazement, during a recent trip back to Lancaster he unearthed the whittled down curb section hidden in the bushes behind the shop. “I came back a couple weeks ago and I sawed off the center section of it,” he said. “I’ve got maybe a foot section of the actual curb.”
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