Ocean City beachgoers will be able to plant larger canopies in the sand this summer, with the City Council on Monday adopting an ordinance to increase the footprint they can cover to 15-by-15 feet.
The additional square footage, officials say, will accommodate new types of canopies.
“This increases a canopy footprint area to 15-by-15 to accommodate modern canopy systems that often include structural sandbags or guidewire anchors that extend beyond the roof dimensions,” City Solicitor Heather Stansbury said.
Last year, the Ocean City Council passed legislation to ban all beach tents, with the exception of tents used for babies.
The ordinance also prohibits beachgoers from erecting beach canopies before 10 a.m. and then leaving those canopies unattended; prohibits beach canopies larger than 10-by-10 feet; requires a 3-foot separation around a canopy’s perimeter; and requires the anchoring for such canopies to be contained within the canopy’s footprint.
However, when the legislation was revisited in April, city staff asked council members to consider several amendments, including one to increase the maximum canopy footprint to 15-by-15 feet, rather than the 10-by-10 feet currently on the books.