Ocean City Mayor and Council Regular Meeting - April 20, 2026
Ocean City Mayor and Council Regular Meeting - April 20, 2026
The Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, Maryland, held a regular meeting on Monday, April 20, 2026, at 6:00 PM. The meeting covered the consent agenda with seven items, a series of ordinances and resolutions presented by the City Solicitor, and public comment. All votes on ordinances and resolutions were unanimous (5-0). A consent agenda item regarding the second annual Ocean City Seafood Festival was moved to a future work session for further discussion.
Consent Calendar
- Items A, B, C, D, F, and G were approved collectively (5-0):
- A: Approval of minutes from Budget Meetings on April 7 and April 8, 2026.
- B: Acknowledgement of Standing Committee Reports (Police Commission canceled, Transportation Committee held, Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee canceled).
- C: Private event approval for Eastern Surfing Association 2026 Northeast Regional Surfing Championship, May 8–10, 2026.
- D: Private event approval for Eastern Surfing Association 2026 Series, various dates May–September 2026.
- F: Private event approval for Free State Corvette Club Corvette Weekend, October 17, 2026.
- G: Request to serve beer and wine at Caine Woods Community Association functions in Fiesta Park.
- Item E (Private event approval for second annual Ocean City Seafood Festival, August 29, 2026) was removed from the consent calendar by motion and moved to a future work session. Councilmember Metressic expressed concerns from local seafood purveyors about lack of outreach and promotion, requesting time for public comment and staff preparation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- John Atkins (resident, 8802 Caribbean Drive) commented on postal service delays, stating that mail from the Ocean City post office does not go out until the next morning, which he called unacceptable for the second-largest city in Maryland. He urged the Council to use their influence to improve mail service.
Discussion Items
- Ordinance 2026-09 (Second Reading) – Amends Chapter 1 to clarify law enforcement authority to issue citations on misdemeanor local ordinance violations even if penalty exceeds 90 days in jail. Adopted 5-0.
- Ordinance 2026-10 (First Reading) – Amends Chapter 66 (Signs) to clarify treatment of banners, fence signs, and temporary signs (as reviewed March 24 work session). Approved for first reading 5-0.
- Ordinance 2026-11 (First Reading) – Amends Chapter 110 (Zoning) to create clear parameters for outdoor merchandise displays on the Boardwalk and provide definitions for feather flags and teardrop flags (prohibited on page three). Approved 5-0.
- Ordinance 2026-12 (First Reading) – Amends the General Employees' Pension Plan and Trust to permit application of late retirement factors. Approved 5-0.
- Ordinance 2026-13 (First Reading) – Amends Chapter 110 (Zoning) for LC-1 and SC-1 districts to clarify that lots 5,000 sq ft or greater are subject to updated yard setback requirements, confirming treatment of smaller legally nonconforming lots under 5,000 sq ft. Approved 5-0. Public comment from John Atkins (lot 4,800 sq ft) was clarified that the ordinance does not apply to his R-1 district.
- Ordinance 2026-14 (First Reading) – Amends Chapter 106 (Waterways, Beach Regulations) to increase canopy footprint area to 15' x 15' to accommodate modern canopy systems with structural sandbags or guidewire anchors. Approved 5-0.
- Resolution 2026-09 – Amends the Zoning District Map, updating boundaries and classifications as presented March 24. Adopted 5-0.
- Resolution 2026-10 – Authorizes disposition of surplus personal property. Adopted 5-0.
- Resolution 2026-11 – Establishes rates for paid parking on streets and municipal parking lots, amending rates for 100th Street lot and parking citation dismissal language for app-only payment (reviewed April 14 work session). Adopted 5-0.
- Resolution 2026-12 – Declares intent to reimburse expenditures for engineering and architectural design costs for the Racquet Center redevelopment project, not to exceed $145,000. Adopted 5-0.
- Beach Enforcement Updates – Councilmember Metressic requested regular updates every two weeks throughout the summer on the number and nature of warnings and citations for canopy enforcement, as part of a trial period. The City Manager confirmed this is understood and Director Theobald will document all conversations.
Key Outcomes
- All eight ordinances (one second reading, six first readings) and four resolutions were approved unanimously (5-0).
- The second annual Ocean City Seafood Festival consent item was moved to a future work session for further discussion.
- The City Manager noted that the Worcester County Board of Elections has moved the general election from the Princess Royale back to the convention center; both early voting and Election Day will be at the convention center.
- The Council thanked city staff for preparing the inlet for Springfest (opening 10 AM on Thursday).
- Meeting adjourned at approximately 6:12 PM.
Meeting Transcript
You are on some evening, everyone. Welcome to this mayor and city council meeting. Today's Monday, April 20th, 2026, and it is 6 p.m. First on this evening's agenda. I have a prayer and a pledge. Councilmember Metressic will be leading us in both. Lord, we pray that you would watch over this meeting and uh be in the hearts and minds of those who lead this town or those who live in this town and those who care about this town. Lord, we pray that through you we would be able to do things that glorify your people. Amen. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Next on the agenda, we have the consent agenda, items A through G. Item A is a request to approve minutes from the budget meeting dated April 7th, 2026. Number two is a budget meeting dated April 8th, 2026. Item B is the acknowledgement of our standing committee reports. The police commission from April for April 13th was canceled. Transportation Committee on April 14th. We had the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee, April 15th. That was also canceled. Item C private event approval request for the Eastern Surfing Association 2026 Northeast Regional Surf Surfing Championship, May 8th through the 10th, 2026. Item D is a private event approval request for the Eastern Surfing Association 2026 series with various dates May through September. Item E, private event approval request for the second annual Ocean City Seafood Festival being held August 29th, 2026. Item F is a private event approval request for the Free State Corvette Club Corvette weekend, October 17th, 2026. And finally, item G is a request for permission to serve beer and wine at the Kane Woods Community Association functions held in Fiesta Park. Councilmember Metressic. I wanted to have uh more uh discussion about that. Okay, I've got a motion from Councilmember Metresic to approve the consent agenda items A, B, C, D, F, and G. Alright, I've got a second from Councilmember Proctor. All those in favor of the motion? All right. Uh five in favor. Go ahead with your comment on item E. Um, so I received a couple calls last year and uh this year as well about this seafood festival from local purveyors of seafood, local restaurant tours, about um you know their lack of being approached by the promoter, the lack of being approached by the city, um, and what kind of money or what kind of uh you know pardon me what kind of uh promotion we're doing uh for this event if there were an alternative that we could be spending that money with local businesses, uh things like that. So uh you know I just think it's worth talking about, worth asking about kind of seeing where where the numbers are with that so we can have a better understanding of it. Would uh would you like this to be discussed tonight by Lisa, or would you like to schedule this for a future meeting where maybe uh maybe the staff would be more prepared? Uh unless Lisa, are you prepared to discuss this tonight, or would you prefer we we move it? Would it be all right to move it to a uh work session so that uh I can get some questions together for you and of course okay? Um that would be that would be my request, and then we would have time for public comment maybe from some of the people uh that have an opinion on it for that. Sure, yeah, I think that's reasonable. It's a relative it's a new event, so I think uh there's probably gonna be some feedback on how it went last year, and if we if we're gonna move forward with it, we can make some adjust adjustments. Um well then that would be my motion that we move item E to uh a discussion to be held at our next uh work session. Okay, I've got a motion from Councilmember Metressic, seconded by Council Member Proctor to move the private event approval request for the second annual Ocean City Seafood Festival scheduled for August 29th, 2026. Uh moving that agenda item to a future work session, uh whether it be next week or a few weeks out, uh, whenever staff staff can be prepared. Any other discussion? All right, all those in favor? All right. Motion carries with five in favor. All right, next on the agenda we have items referred to in presentations from the city solicitor. Good evening. Good evening.
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