MAY 2021
www.issuu.com/oceanpinesprogress
443-359-7527
THE OCEAN PINES JOURNAL OF NEWS & COMMENTARY
COVER STORY
Daly proposes fines, court cost recovery in effort to regulate short-term rentals Amending Declaration of Restrictions section-by-section is new preferred approach of board working group By TOM STAUSS Publisher he cancellation of a scheduled Town Hall meeting on April 17 on short-term rentals does not signal less interest on the part of a working group of directors in coming up with a way to crack down on alleged abuses while retaining the rights of property owners to rent out their homes for periods of 28 days or less. Short-term rentals are defined in county regulations as rentals for 28 days or less, and Ocean Pines Association attempts to piggy-back on county regulations closely track language in the applicable county ordinance. In a recent telephone interview, Director Frank Daly outlined a new strategy for ending such abuses as excessive parking on the streets, noise, and trash accumulation, which he said is a problem on four identified properties in Ocean Pines compared to hundreds with no such problems. Daly said the balancing that the Board of Directors
T
is trying to achieve would preserve the rights of property owners to rent out their homes while attempting to eliminate problem properties that drag down the quality of life of neighbors and neighborhood property values. Daly serves on a task force of directors addressing the issue with OPA President Larry Perrone and Director Camilla Rogers. The initial approach by the task Frank Daly force was to amend the Architecture Review Committee guidelines with new regulatory language pertaining to short-term rentals, but that approach has been abandoned, Daly said. Much of the proposed ARC guideline amendment language will be incorporated into proposed changes to the To Page 3
Two candidates for OPA board Rick Farr, a retired Air Force master sergeant and fulltime resident since 2019 and part-time resident before then dating back to 1999, is one of two new announced candidate for the Ocean Pines Association’s Board of Directors in this summer’s annual election. He is employed as vice-president of Human Resources for WTS International in Rockville, Md. He works from his home office in Ocean Pines. ~ Page 21 Within days of being appointed to the Budget and Finance Advisory Committee, Lisa Romersa announced her candidacy for the Board of Directors. A Long Island, N.Y., native, she and her husband purchased a home in Ocean Pines in 2016. She’s a full-time Ocean Pines resident and self-employed, owner of a national legal search firm. ~ Page 23
Town Hall canceled without board vote The cancellation of the Town Hall meeting on proposed shortterm rental regulations, originally scheduled for Saturday, April 17, did not involve a vote by the entire Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors. It was a decision reached by OPA President Larry Perrone in consultation with short-term rental working group members Frank Daly and Camilla Rogers. As there were only three directors attending an April 14 task force meeting with OPA attorneys, it did not constitute an official board meeting. Directors Doug Parks and Tom Janasek were out of the loop on the decision to cancel the Town Hall, signaling continued friction on the board. ~ Page 5