OCEAN CITY, Md. - The Ocean City Council met Monday to discuss how the town should regulate short-term rental licenses in residential areas and mobile home communities.
According to the city clerk, council members are considering three options as they weigh how to address short-term rentals, including properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb.
One newly introduced proposal would cap the number of new short-term rental licenses and eventually phase them out. Under that option, no new licenses would be issued beyond the cap, and existing licenses would be eliminated over time as properties are sold or licenses are not renewed. The approach differs from an earlier proposal that called for a cap without a phase-out provision.
A second option would allow existing short-term rental licenses to expire when a property is sold or if the license is not renewed.
A third proposal would place a permanent freeze on the number of short-term rental licenses in residential and mobile home districts. Existing licenses would remain valid but nontransferable, while new applications would be placed on a waiting list and awarded on a first-come, first-served basis as licenses become available.
Ocean City homeowner Michael Bell spoke during Monday’s meeting in opposition to the proposed regulations. Although Bell does not rent out his home, he said the town should not penalize all property owners because of the actions of a few.
“Don’t affect everybody because there’s a few bad apples,” Bell said.
Bell argued the town should focus enforcement on problem properties rather than impose broad restrictions.
“If you’ve got a bad owner down here that’s not watching or controlling what’s going on, yank their license,” he said. “That solves the problem.”
CoastTV spoke with other homeowners who were in favor of additional regulations, citing concerns about noise and disturbances tied to some short-term rental properties.
With three options still under consideration, the council is expected to continue discussions at a future meeting.