OCEAN CITY, Md. — Ocean City officials announced Tuesday evening that a petition seeking a referendum on the town’s short-term rental moratorium has gathered enough valid signatures to move forward. However, the issue will not go to a public vote after council members voted to rescind the ordinance altogether.
According to the Ocean City Board of Supervisors of Elections, 1,159 of the 1,257 signatures submitted in January were verified as valid. Petitioners needed at least 990 valid signatures for the referendum effort to move forward.
The results were presented during the 6 p.m. council meeting and unanimously approved by the Ocean City Council in a 6-0 vote.
Following that approval, a motion was made to rescind the ordinance that had extended the moratorium on new short-term rental licenses in residential areas and mobile home communities. That motion also passed unanimously, 6-0.
The moratorium, originally approved in December 2025 as a one-year extension, had prohibited property owners in those areas from obtaining new rental licenses through Jan. 3, 2027, while town officials considered updated regulations.
With the ordinance now rescinded, the moratorium is lifted, meaning property owners in those areas are once again permitted to obtain short-term rental licenses in town. Because the council repealed the ordinance, there will be no special election or referendum on the issue.