OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.COM
DECEMBER 3, 2021
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
CHRISTMAS
PARADE
RETURNS
After a 2020 hiatus, the holiday resort tradition is set to kick off Saturday at 11 a.m. – Page 26
FREE
Council walks on wide side on Balto. Ave. Sidewalk size vote rejects property owners’ appeals
MALLORY PANUSKA/OCEAN CITY TODAY
GIFT SEEKERS
An overhead view of the Ocean City Holiday Shopper’s Fair, which returned last weekend to the Roland E. Powell Convention Center on 40th Street, with more than 100 vendors and thousands of visitors. The typically annual event, which ran Nov. 26-28, was canceled in 2020 due to covid but came back this year for a successful run.
Margaritaville, alley deal still idling By Mallory Panuska Staff Writer (Dec. 3, 2021) For the second time in about a month, developers hoping to build a Margaritaville resort on the former Phillips Beach Plaza property downtown have postponed a City Council discussion about a town-
owned alley. The developers’ request to take over Washington Lane — a 16-foot alley between Baltimore Avenue and the Boardwalk and 13th and 14th streets — is the first in a long line of approvals needed to bring the proposed 13-story hotel and accompany-
ing amenities to fruition. But after council members gave the initial green light to move forward with discussions in early August, the elected officials have yet to talk about it publicly again. They were supposed to discuss the See MARGARITAVILLE Page 3
By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Dec. 3, 2021) Despite pleas from the public to redevelop Baltimore Avenue with eight-foot sidewalks as part of a major project to bury utility lines, the Ocean City Council voted to approve a 10-foot sidewalk consisting of a seven-to-eight-foot sidewalk and two-to-three-foot utility strip. The vote was not unanimous. Ocean City officials are currently in the design phase of a project to move all utility lines underground along Baltimore Avenue, between North Division Street and 15th Street. The purpose of burying the lines is to help bolster the electric grid during storms and to improve the aesthetics along the nearly 15-block stretch. All other areas along Baltimore Avenue, both to the south of North Division Street and north of 15th Street, have the utilities underground. The cost of the project is expected to be around $20 million, which would come out of the general fund, and council members have stated that they have one chance to get this right. The Baltimore Avenue right of way See BALTIMORE Page 4
Resort marketing department asks for more and gets it Council OK’s incremental increases in tourism tax share over three years By Greg Wehner Staff Writer (Dec. 3, 2021) Ocean City’s new director of tourism and business development continues to move closer to getting his department in line with his objectives, as the Ocean City Council on Tues-
day agreed to allow his advertising fund to grow by two-tenths of a percent over the next three years. Tourism Director Tom Perlozzo told the council during Tuesday’s work session that after a couple of meetings when increasing the room tax from 4.5 to 5 percent was discussed, confusion exists on how the additional 0.5 percent should be distributed. When room tax rates were last raised, although the half-cent increase was earmarked for advertis-
ing, that percentage, which started at 1.4 percent in 2009, was raised to 2 percent in 2012, according to Budget Manager Jennie Knapp. Perlozzo said he considered the lingering distribution question to be a policy decision, and presented to the council three options on how to move forward. “Regardless of the option chosen ...we need flexSee ROOM Page 5