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AUGUST 18, 2023
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Ocean City has agreed to fund half of proposed Somerset Street project cost – Page 15
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Two hearings lie ahead for Margaritaville Will help decide how development proceeds on former Phillips property
PHOTO COURTESY WHITE MARLIN OPEN
THE WINNER White Marlin Open staff help lift a 640.5-pound blue marlin off the transom of the Floor Reel at the Harbour Island Marina. Caught last Friday by John Ols, the boat’s owner, the fish took the tournament’s top prize of more than $6.2 million. See story on page 65.
By Mallory Panuska Managing Editor (Aug. 18, 2023) Plans to build a smaller Margaritaville resort between 13th and 14th streets in downtown Ocean City gained some traction this week with a City Council vote to set a hearing on the developer’s request to obtain air rights over an alley that bisects the property. The project was introduced as an alternative after developers ran into snags with a proposed larger resort that called for more conference space and amenities. The original project, which needs a special zoning designation to come to fruition, is still on the table, but plans request the city’s abandonment of an alley so the throughway can be used to join two separate parcels. The public hearing on the request is scheduled for Sept. 5. The smaller project also needs an approval from council members as plans move through the planning stages. The request to obtain air rights over the alley will be set for hearing following the council’s unanimous vote at a work session Tuesday. “It’s a smaller hotel with less conference area, less amenities,” local attorney Hugh Cropper, who represents the developers, said Tuesday. “But it is still a very good development. It would be very much a positive for Ocean City.” Cropper has said developers still prefer the See SMALLER Page 9
Marijuana smell test applied in vehicle stops, searches Police use cannabis odor as cause to comb minor’s cars for contraband By Hunter Hine Staff Writer (Aug. 18, 2023) Although a new state law prohibits law enforcement from searching vehicles based on the odor of cannabis alone, Ocean City police continue to search cars based on smell as
long as all the occupants are under 21 years old. Ocean City Police Cpt. James Grady said at the Police Commission on Monday that Worcester County State’s Attorney Kristin Heiser has told the OCPD officers they can search minors’ vehicles if they smell cannabis. “They [State’s Attorney’s Office] wanted us to try to search vehicles based on the smell of CDS [controlled dangerous substances] if all the occupants
were under 21, because they’re not allowed to legally have it. If everybody is 21 or over and we smell the odor we can’t search the car,” Grady said. The General Assembly passed HB1071, which legalized marijuana and specifically governs cannabis evidence. The bill states that police cannot stop or search a person, vehicle or vessel based on certain kinds of cannabis evidence alone, See REASONABLE Page 8
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AUGUST 18, 2023
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Digital ads for city events are displayed on the back of a Boardwalk tram. Four of the seven functionong trams now have working screens that flash city house ads, but officials want all of them working and want to see outside advertisers buy space.
Some OC Boardwalk trams flashing in-house city ads By Mallory Panuska Managing Editor (Aug. 18, 2023) Digital video screens on four out of the Boardwalk's seven functioning trams are now flashing in-house city advertisements after months of waiting for the new technology. However, with no revenue coming in from commercial advertisers and three of the screens still displaying error messages, the new program is still not where members of the city’s
Transportation Committee want it to be. “Tell [the ad contractor] we’d like to see some ads on there next week. That will sell the program,” Mayor Rick Meehan, who chairs the committee, said at a meeting Tuesday. The city signed a contract late last year with Gateway Outdoor Advertising to market and sell ads on resort buses and trams. While the company got off to a slow start, Transit ManSee OFFICIALS Page 7
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