OCEAN CITY, Md. - Occupancy limits for rentals in residential and mobile home areas are set to be a key topic of discussion at Tuesday's Ocean City meeting.
The proposed regulation would allow two people per bedroom in rental homes, regardless of room size, excluding children 10 years old and younger.
John Magathan, owner of BluVisita Vacation Rentals, voiced concerns that the change could unfairly benefit hotels over rental properties.
“Hotel rooms could have a 300-square-foot amount of space for the entire place and sleep six people there,” said Magathan. “But if you go to a single-family house, where some of the bedrooms we manage can exceed 200 or even 300 square feet, that bedroom could only accommodate two people.”
Currently, occupancy in these areas is determined by the square footage of each bedroom. The proposed rule would eliminate that calculation in favor of a simpler, standardized approach.
Ocean City Manager Terry McGean explained the rationale behind the proposed change. “The main reason was to make it simpler to enforce and simpler to understand,” said McGean. “Flat out being a bedroom doesn’t matter—you’re not having to go out there and measure how large it is.”
McGean added that the new rule would primarily be enforced if a rental property is reported as a disturbance to the community.
Magathan, however, suspects the changes are being driven by industry pressures. “I think there’s a bit of a push from the hotel, motel, and restaurant industry to try to get this through, because it does benefit them,” he said.
If the rule passes, Magathan predicts property owners may add more bedrooms to their homes to accommodate larger groups of renters.
The council will deliberate on the recommendations during Tuesday’s meeting and decide whether to move forward with these adjustments.