OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
OCTOBER 23, 2020
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
VOTE
PETER BUAS OCEAN CITY COUNCIL
See Ad On Page 11
FREE
Casino overlay district OK’d by Worcester commissioners
LISA CAPITELLI/OCEAN CITY TODAY
QUALITY CHECK
Cooper Bayline, 3, of Selbyville, checks out his candy loot during the Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department’s Halloween “Spook Out” event on Sunday at Northside Park on 125th Street. The annual event was held outdoors for the first time because of covid-19 and was well attended.
By Elizabeth Bonin Staff Writer (Oct. 23, 2020) Ocean Downs Casino in Berlin is expanding its business, as the Worcester County Commissioners added a Casino Entertainment District to the zoning code during their meeting on Tuesday. The district would exist as a permitted use in the A-2 (Agricultural) district and establish regulations as an overlay district, thus allowing the casino to exist independently. When it was created, the casino could only exist as an accessory to the Ocean Downs racetrack. With an overlay district, the property would be allowed uses such as retail shops, hotels, theaters and exhibition space, all of which are prohibited for the A2 zone. Most of the casino property is A-2, but 7.7 acres are zoned C-2 (Commercial). Ed Tudor, director of review and permitting, pointed out that because of a Board of Zoning Appeals approval for a fairground in 1997, some
E-bikes don’t make it to Boardwalk Council splits 4-3, after advocates make strong argument to allow them By Josh Kim Staff Writer (Oct. 23, 2020) After weeks of debate, flip-flopping opinions and several committee meetings, the Ocean City Council finalized its decision to ban electric bicycles on the Boardwalk in a split vote on Monday. The topic of such a ban has been on the council’s plate since early June, when Councilwoman Mary Knight asked for it to be brought to the full
mayor and council’s attention during a police commission meeting. Since then, the agenda item has been floated back and forth between the police commission, the council and the bike committee. On Monday, Councilman Tony DeLuca, who originally supported allowing class one bicycles on the Boardwalk, made the motion to ban all electric bicycles. He reiterated the inability of police to differentiate between class one and class three bicycles, which had been the catalyst for his change in opinion, as well as the fact that the police department recommended an all-out ban.
Class one and class three bicycles offer pedal assistance and do not have throttles as do class two bicycles. “On emails, texts and calls that I have gotten, and believe me I’ve gotten a lot, it’s three to one no motorized bikes allowed on the Boardwalk, three to one, from the constituents,” DeLuca said. However, Councilmembers Mark Paddack, John Gehrig and Matt James contested the move. “We have not one single documented incident on that Boardwalk or within the corporate limits in the Town of Ocean City pertaining to e-bike See E-BIKE Page 4
of the above uses are already allowed via special exception. Attorney Joseph Moore, representing Ocean Downs, said that the property needed to be rezoned because the accessory use, the casino, had turned into the main use. In addition, the casino could expand. One opportunity could be a hotel, if the state law changed. Moore said that if it did, a third party not legally or financially connected with the casino could buy or lease property from the casino and build a hotel. “If you pass the overlay zone, we request you to amend the overlay bill to state that any hotel, one hotel at the location would be limited to 150 rooms,” Moore said, adding that this would ensure no competition with Ocean City hotels. Those rooms could also be compensated by the casino. He said that under the current code, anyone could build a hotel next to or across the street from the casino since it is surrounded by C-2 zoning. “We want folks to come, we want See COMMISSIONERS Page 5
Tourist tracking software under consideration By Josh Kim Staff Writer (Oct. 23, 2020) Data intelligence company Entrada pitched its services to the Ocean City Tourism Commission on Monday, promising to be a middleman between the city and its marketing agency, MGH, and to provide the resort with the data it needs to help it attract guests it desires. “With the communities that we are working with, we hope to answer many of the really challenging questions that See SOFTWARE Page 2