OC Today
INSIDE NEW SPRINKLER RULE – P. 11 PEDESTRIAN STRUCK – P. 40 UMBRELLAS GO UP – P. 20 PADDLING TO MEXICO –P. 29 PLEIN AIR NOT PLAIN – P. 104
WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
JULY 31, 2015
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
R-1, eh?
Buskers bust on City Hall
Council finds it bears burden of deciding on zoning change
Artful protest staged against assigned spaces
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 31, 2015) As expected, the city’s new policy requiring street performers to register for Boardwalk spaces below Ninth Street went into full effect Monday. And, also as expected, street performers themselves were not happy about it. So much, in fact, that at least a dozen performers staged a brief protest Monday afternoon in front of City Hall, complete with shirts and signs emblazoned “free speech prisoner” to represent what they see as an unnecessary hurdle to self-expression. “If the city just wanted to make our lives difficult, they’ve succeeded,” said caricaturist Mike Moeller. “I ZACK HOOPES/OCEAN CITY TODAY really just wish the city Street performers stage a protest Monday in front of City Hall against the See BUSKERS Page 7 new Boardwalk space system that went into effect this week.
ACME to buy 94th St. Superfresh
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 31, 2015) Ocean City may have hit peak supermarket intrigue - which may not be much, but it’s something compared to how much press grocery stores
usually get. The mostly defunct Ocean Plaza Mall on 94th Street and its anchor store, Superfresh, are almost guaranteed a major shakeup in the coming months as Superfresh’s parent company, A&P, pro-
Ber lin Verizon Plaza (next to Liquor Mart) 10818 Ocean n Gateway (Rt. 50) 443-513-487 70 West Ocea an City
(next to SuperF Fresh)
FREE
Tanger Outlets
2FHDQ *DWHZD\ 410-213-1733 Ocean City y 26th Street 3KLODGHOSKLD $YH 410-250-8030 Ocean City y 127th Street &RDVWDO +LJKZD\ 410-250-8030
ceeds with its bankruptcy case and sale of stores to ACME Markets. At the same time, the underused mall’s owner, Continental Realty, is looking at a renewed push toward redeSee EXPECTED Page 3
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 31, 2015) Much like a struggling daytime TV show, Ocean City’s debate over zoning restrictions for shortterm rentals appears to have become a cycle of endless cliffhangers. One month after the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the proposal be approved, the City Council took no formal action on the creation of an R-1A zoning definition, adjourning Tuesday’s meeting without voting to either ac-
cept or reject the commission’s recommendation. Mayor and acting City Manager Rick Meehan pointed to a desire to ad- ‘We need to dress the issue as part utilize all the of the city’s tools in the comprehen- toolbox, not sive plan up- just one.’ date, a – Mayor Rick state-manMeehan dated land use study that the city hopes to proceed with with soon, although it See MEEHAN Page 5
Lousy Internet costing health dept. thousands Rest of state uses fiber optics, but here it’s just old-fashioned
By Brian Gilliland Staff Writer (July 31,2015) Internet access on the Eastern Shore is not just difficult for rankand-file consumers, but businesses, organizations and governmental agencies as well. The once-mighty T1 line used to be about the fastest connection available before the advent of fiber-optic cable, available on the west-
$
50 O OFF
An A Android ndro oid id S Smar ma m art r tphone tpho one
w/new 2 Yrr. Agreement. See store for details. Exp. E August 7, 2015
ern shore and elsewhere for about a decade now. But those very same T1 lines, still in wide use here, are costing the Debbie Goeller state and Worcester County thousands of dollars per month for access that is costing fiber users hundreds. “At the Worcester County Addictions Program, we have See COST Page 10
F EE FRE Ellipsis E llipsis ps sis is 8 TTablet able ablet blet et et
2 Yrr.. Agrreement eement Required After Mail-In Rebate. Exp. August 7, 2015