After learning a petition had enough valid signatures to force the issue to referendum, the Ocean City Council this week voted to rescind an ordinance extending a moratorium on the issuance of short-term rental licenses in single-family neighborhoods.
The results of a petition drive challenging the moratorium were reported during Tuesday’s council meeting, nearly a week after the Ocean City Board of Supervisors of Elections convened to verify the 1,257 names collected by community members this winter.
Board members were able to validate 1,159 signatures, which meets the requirements to put the legislation before voters in either a special election or the next general election, set for November.
However, after accepting the results of the petition, the council this week exercised a third option – rescinding the controversial ordinance entirely. Noting that the council had reached some resolution in its short-term rental discussions, members expressed their desires to do away with the moratorium.
“We said we didn’t know if it was going to be a few months or Dec. 31, and here we are,” Council Secretary Will Savage said. “I wasn’t here last week, but it sounds like we got a lot of resolution done. I think we are at a point where we rescind it.”
I’m sure they will try some idiotic ruling again next year. It’s so difficult for elected officials to let the peons be free of their grip.