Ocean City is cracking down on construction dumpsters parked in the local streets.
Ocean City has found a way to instantly open up hundreds of parking spaces without spending a dime.
City Council has introduced an ordinance to completely ban construction dumpsters larger than 10 cubic yards from being parked on local streets, alleys and the public right-of-way.
Dumpsters that are 10 cubic yards and smaller would still be allowed to park on the streets during the day. However, they would be prohibited from parking on the streets overnight, starting at 6 p.m. The only exception to the overnight ban is for emergency work approved by the city.
The ordinance will also ban construction trailers, commercial trailers and storage trailers of any type or size from being parked overnight, starting at 6 p.m., City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said.
A public hearing and final vote on the ordinance are scheduled at the Council meeting on Dec. 17. The ordinance was introduced Thursday by a 7-0 vote, suggesting that it is well on its way to final approval.
The dumpsters are part of a trend in Ocean City that also involves commercial vehicles and boat trailers 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.
Without the construction dumpsters and trailers clogging the parking spots, more spaces will open up across the island for regular traffic, city officials said.
“Increasing the availability and convenience of parking in Ocean City will always be a priority, and I’m glad to see this measure move forward,” Mayor Jay Gillian said in a statement.
Councilman Keith Hartzell estimates that hundreds of parking spaces will be freed up citywide by the new dumpster ordinance.Councilman Keith Hartzell estimated that 700 to 800 parking spots will become available for regular traffic citywide once the construction dumpsters and trailers are banned.
To illustrate the current problem with dumpsters, Hartzell showed photos during Thursday’s Council meeting of construction equipment blocking off the streets.
“You can’t make any of this up. Literally half of the street was taken up on one side,” Hartzell said of one particularly congested construction site over the summer
At Hartzell’s suggestion, the ordinance was amended to require that dumpsters will be restricted to the front of the property where the construction is occurring. Otherwise, the construction contractors will simply move the dumpsters to someplace else on the street, Hartzell said.
“They can’t help themselves, some of them,” Hartzell said, blaming a small number of repeat offenders for the problems.
Under the ordinance, violators will face penalties of up to $500 in fines and a jail term of up to 90 days, or both. Jail terms would be for only the most egregious repeat offenders, McCrosson explained.
Councilman Terry Crowley, who worked with Gillian’s administration and the community to address the dumpster problem, emphasized the ordinance’s main benefit – creating extra parking for regular traffic.
“We’re increasing parking across the island at no cost to the taxpayer. That’s the win for the residents. This is a really good example of the community talking to everyone up here and us coming up with a commonsense solution,” Crowley said.
Depending on their size, boat trailers are either banned or restricted from parking in the street.In another way to open up parking spaces, the city already bans 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.
In a concession to boaters, the city allows boats and boat trailers shorter than 22 feet to remain in parking spaces on the street 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 there is an exception for boats and boat trailers 22 feet and under.
