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AUGUST 22, 2014
BEACH FUN
OCEAN CITY SANDFEST Inaugural event began Monday, activities include sand-sculpting contests, carving demos – Page 49
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Nearly 80K acres off OC coastline going to US Wind
Concerns not lacking about house rentals
Combined, space can power 300,000 homes
Planning, Zoning Comm. hears litany of complaints
By Clara Vaughn Staff Writer (Aug. 22, 2014) The U.S. Department of the Interior Tuesday auctioned the rights to nearly 80,000 acres off Ocean City’s coast for wind energy development. US Wind Inc., a subsidiary of Italy-based renewable energy developer Renexia SpA, placed the winning bid of $8.7 million for both tracts, a North Lease Area of 32,737 acres and South Lease Area of 46,970 acres. Combined, the space is capable of powering about 300,000 homes, the Department of the Interior said in a release. “We need a jobs agenda to match our climate challenge,” Gov. Martin O’Malley said in a statement. “Expanding renewable energy, like we’re doing here, will bring Maryland’s vision for clean energy one step closer to reality and clearly set our state apart on the country’s renewable energy landscape.” According to the nonprofit Business Network for Maryland Offshore Wind, the construction, operations and maintenance of the project could generate more than $400 million in local revenue and up to 450 longterm jobs. “Operations and maintenance … provides the biggest opportunity for local jobs and putting money into the local economy,” said Liz Burdock, executive director of the Network for Maryland Offshore Wind, at a meeting earlier this year. The Wind Energy Area is located at its closest 10 nautical miles, or just under 12 miles, from shore, leading some to question whether it will create an eyesore for Ocean City beachgoers. “While turbines might be visible on a clear day at this distance, on most days they will be obscured by See ACRES Page 9
PHIL JACOBS/OCEAN CITY TODAY
JUST TEETHING Christian Seibert climbs on a dinosaur head on the beach at Third street, Wednesday evening. The 10-year-old was visiting Ocean City with his mom, Antoinette from Holbrook, N.Y.
High-speed chase results in northbound lane closures By Nancy Powell Staff Writer (Aug. 22, 2014) A 21-year-old Jessup man was charged Thursday morning with a drunken driving charge and multiple traffic offenses after leading police on a high speed chase and crashing into a utility box near 72nd Street. An Ocean City police officer saw
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the driver, later identified as Carlton Matthew Stephenson III, drive eastbound through the parking lot in front of the 64th Street Market and continuing south to Coastal Highway, where he nearly caused an accident early Thursday morning, according to Lindsay O’Neal, the police department’s public affairs speSee CHASE Page 5
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (Aug. 22, 2014) Although billing it as a public hearing wasn’t inaccurate, probably a better term for Tuesday night’s session at City Hall would’ve been an “airing of grievances.” The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission heard a litany of complaints this week, not only regarding the possibility of code changes to the resort’s single-family zoning districts, but moreover about what seems to be a widespread lack of co-ordination and enforcement in any district when it comes to the problems associated with weekly rentals. “This problem activity is not going on just in R-1 zones, it’s going on all over Ocean City as I’m sure you’re now aware,” said Jerry Milko of Holiday Real Estate. “I don’t want another regulation,” said resident Joanne Cuomo. “All we need is regulations that people will follow and the police will actually come take care of.” How to ensure this – whether it consists of a new regulation, or reinforcement of the old – is what the city will be grappling with in the coming weeks and months. Tuesday’s crowd was standingroom-only in City Hall – but despite the number of participants, many who had signed up to speak before the commission declined to do so after others had already made the same arguments they had planned. “This is intended as a finding of fact…and a needs assessment,” said Commission Chair Pam Buckley. “Please only speak if you have something new to say. This commission does not decide by plebiscite.” The hearing, officially, was to garner public input on the possibility of changing the code regarding singlefamily residential (R-1) and mobile home (MH) districts. For many years, See RENTALS Page 6
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