Boat trailers will face a parking ban or restrictions, depending on their size.
Ocean City Councilman Terry Crowley has seen some construction trailers that have been parked in the street for so long that their tires have gone flat.
Crowley described them as “billboards” that are serving as free advertising for the companies that own them and apparently have no plans to remove them from the street.
The construction trailers are part of a trend in Ocean City that also involves commercial vehicles, boat trailers and dumpsters monopolizing parking spaces on the local streets – this in a town where parking spots are at a premium, especially during the busy summer tourism season.
However, City Council plans to crack down on the problem by introducing a new ordinance at its meeting Thursday to restrict or ban the trailers and dumpsters on the streets to open up hundreds of parking spaces throughout town for regular traffic.
“This has been a problem that has been proliferating over the years. It has gotten worse and worse and worse,” Crowley said in an interview Tuesday.
Council has been working with Mayor Jay Gillian’s administration and Police Chief Bill Campbell to craft an ordinance targeting construction trailers, boat trailers, dumpsters and large commercial vehicles.
“This is about trailers and dumpsters, but it’s also really about parking,” Crowley said, while noting that the ordinance will free up hundreds of parking spaces without costing taxpayers any money.
Councilman Terry Crowley expresses his frustration about construction trailers and dumpsters monopolizing parking spaces. Crowley, who represents the First Ward, has long complained about construction trailers crowding the local streets and preventing regular traffic from using the parking spaces.
As an example, he mentioned how St. Charles Place in the north end of town was taken over by dumpsters, a construction lift and a portable toilet during a construction project last summer.
“It’s gotten really out of control over the summer,” he said.
The new ordinance will impose an outright ban on boats and boat trailers that are longer than 22 feet from parking in local streets, alleys or the public right-of-way “at any time” all year round.
The ban will also apply to commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, according to the ordinance.
In a concession to boaters, the city will allow boats and boat trailers shorter than 22 feet long to remain in parking spaces on the street, alleys and the public right-of-way provided they are not there for more than three consecutive nights.
Crowley pointed out that Ocean City is a boating community that doesn’t want to penalize its boaters – including those who come to the shore on the weekends – so the exception for boats and boat trailers 22 feet long and under has been placed in the ordinance.
The ordinance will also ban construction trailers, commercial trailers and storage trailers of any type or size, as well as construction dumpsters larger than 10 cubic yards, from being parked overnight, starting at 6 p.m., from local streets, alleys and the public right-of-way. The only exception to the overnight ban is for emergency work approved by the city.
Construction dumpsters are one of the main targets of the parking ordinance. Another section of the ordinance bans commercial trucks, tractor-trailers, buses, vacation homes, trailer campers and other large vehicles weighing 6,000 pounds or more from parking in the street unless they are loading or unloading while making deliveries or pick-ups.
The parking ban will not apply to properly registered pickup trucks or vans that are shorter than 19 feet.
Violators face penalties of up to $500 in fines and a jail term of up to 90 days, or both, according to the ordinance.
During their Nov. 21 meeting, Crowley and other Council members spoke of the need for banning trailers, dumpsters and the like from city streets.
Councilman Keith Hartzell, who has been exploring ways to create more parking spaces, expressed his frustration with contractors leaving their construction trailers or dumpsters out in street, even though police have been issuing tickets.
Hartzell predicted that the contractors will eventually relent after getting hit with tickets and fines under a tough new ordinance.
“They are getting tickets. The police are ticketing these people. ‘What the heck, I’ll pay the ticket, I’ll pay the fine. I’m making a lot of money. I’m a bigshot,’” Hartzell said of how some contractors have reacted up to this point.
“Well, you know what? No, you take your trailer home. And you’re going to get it every day. Sooner or later, you’re going to get tired of paying it and you’re going to take your trailer home,” Hartzell added of the fines that will be doled out.
Construction contractors are not the only ones at fault for hogging the parking spots, Crowley said. He pointed out that other large commercial vehicles can be blamed, too, including businesses such as cleaning companies and dog groomers.
