OCEAN CITY, Md. -- A group of property owners scheduled a protest on the same day as the town's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. The group hopes it will draw attention to their frustrations over recently implemented restrictions for short-term rentals.
Protest organizers are asking people to gather around 50th Street, right off Coastal Highway, at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The protest will begin an hour before the parade, and the group of disgruntled homeowners plans to be on the ocean side of Coastal Highway, opposite the festivities.
However, their chosen location will put them in the direct sight of parade-goers. Terry Miller, who helped set up the event, hopes this allows them to spread their message.
"It's just to try to get the word out to as many people as possible, and since there's going to be kind of a captive audience there, that is kind of the goal," said Miller.
The protest, organized via Facebook by the group OCMD Property Rights, aims to highlight several issues property owners have with the town's new rules.
Short-Term Restrictions for R-1 and MH Districts:
- Requires guests to stay a minimum of 5 nights in 2025 and 2026
- Will require guests to stay a minimum of 31 nights in 2027(goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2027)
Miller told WBOC that the national average rental stay is 3.41 days, so she believes these new requirements will decimate the short-term rental industry in Ocean City.
"Nobody comes for 31 days, so you're either going to have a seasonal rental or a yearly rental," said Miller.
Along with the thousands of people sure to flood Coastal Highway on Saturday, protesters also hope to attract the attention of town leaders.
City Manager Terry McGean said the town's focus on Saturday will be the parade. Still, they are aware of the planned public objection to last week's ruling, which passed in a 4-3 vote.
"We'll have to deal with it as best we can, again, the parade is something everyone in the city looks forward to, we have thousands and thousands of visitors that come for it, I'm sure the protesters are going to understand that," said McGean.
Miller said the group of property owners has also started collecting signatures on a petition. She said they want to send this issue to referendum, ultimately allowing the voters to decide.
The city solicitor approved the petition on Monday, March 10. Miller and co. have 40 days to collect the needed signatures. For the petition to materialize, they will need 40% of registered Ocean City voters to sign it.