Despite pleas to resolve short-term rental issues before a moratorium expires in January, an Ocean City Council majority this week agreed to the first reading of an ordinance to extend the ban another year.
On Monday, the council voted 4-3, with Council President Matt James, Councilman John Gehrig and Councilwoman Carol Proctor opposed, to extend a moratorium on the issuance of short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods through Jan. 3, 2027.
While supporters argue the ban would give the city more time to create new regulations for vacation rentals in R-1 residential and MH mobile home districts, those in opposition say they felt a solution could be reached before the current moratorium expires in January.
“Because so many people spoke for so many hours, multiple times, and for everyone on both sides this is critically important, and everyone wants clarity, I think we owe everyone to work as quickly as possible to come up with a solution,” Gehrig said. “And the problem I have with the moratorium extension is that it gives us time to be lazy and not do the work.”
After nearly an hour and a half of public comments from property owners for and against a moratorium extension, Gehrig voiced his support for letting the moratorium – enacted as emergency legislation earlier this year – expire on Jan. 3.
He said the council owed it to the property owners to find some solution, which ranged from banning all short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods to having no restrictions at all.
“Maybe it gives us extra juice and motivation to answer some of these questions,” he said.
The subject has already been voted on by Ocean City residents. They decided no restrictions on short term rentals for R-1 and MH districts. The matter is settled !!!