OCEAN CITY, MD - On Monday the Ocean City Town Council officially banned the commercial use and occupancy of houseboats within town limits.
This was the second reading of Ordinance 2024-12 to Amend Chapter 14 which makes the ordinance effective immediately.
There is a backstory to this ordinance, the water adventure company Sea Rocket, wanted to expand their business to include rental houseboats. Sea Rocket went so far as to dock a houseboat and as recently as Monday had the boat rented out. Town officials claimed that rental houseboats were a violation of the town code.Â
Sea Rocket CEO Will Wangel disagrees, before the final decision by the council on Monday, Wangel told CoastTV "There is no health and safety concern. That boat operates the same exact way as any other sport fish or whether it's electric sewer or anything else. It operates exactly the same."
Today's vote to pass this ordinance clarifies the language governing houseboats in Ocean City. Mayor Rick Meehan also claimed, at the council meeting, that some of the arguments made by Wangel missed the point a bit. "This is really to address the preservation of our marinas and marine-related activities which are supported by the comprehensive plan to make sure we have marinas that can support and will continue to support marine-related activities and not become residential areas." Said Mayor Meehan.
Wangel has intimated that he may take legal action in light of this ordinance, but exactly what that might look like and when that could happen is still unclear.
