JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Bulkhead construction materials at the Ocean Pines Swim and Racquet Club have for years been a concern of residents. A recent complaint letter targeted Worcester County and the Ocean Pines Association for allowing bulkhead staging to occur within the community.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Oct. 25, 2018) A complaint letter obtained this week by the Bayside Gazette was apparently sent to county and Ocean Pines officials on Oct. 8 regarding “Industrial Use at [the] Swim & Racquet Club.”

Attorney Bruce Bright of the Ocean City law firm Ayres, Jenkins, Gordy & Almand asked that the letter be treated “as a formal and written complaint to the County” and asked that the county “take appropriate regulatory/enforcement action in regard to this matter.”

The letter was sent to Ocean Pines attorney Jeremy Tucker and forwarded to Worcester County Department of Development Review and Permitting Director Ed Tudor and County Zoning Administrator Jennifer Keener.

According to the letter, the area in question, “which is designated as a public park, has been used for a number of years as an industrial site in support of the OPA’s and its contractors’ ongoing marine construction activities … and other shoreline improvements along the many canals of Ocean Pines.”

The industrial staging area “has also apparently been used by multiple marine contracting companies for private jobs/projects (for individual property owners).”

Materials at the site have included “large barges containing raw material such as sand, dirt, and stone. Heavy equipment is used and stored at the site, as well as large quantities of marine construction materials (including timber, pilings, stone, and bulkheading containment components).”

Also left at the site were dumpsters, portable toilets, contractor vehicles and storage trailers.

“Notably, materials, equipment, and vehicles are brought to the site via Seabreeze Road, through a residential neighborhood and the Swim & Racquet Club and its parking areas, as families and children move about in this area,” Bright said.

The complaint added the site was adjacent to waterways and within a protected Critical Buffer Management Area regulated by the Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area Program, without any protective barriers or visual or noise screening. It is also “directly across from waterfront properties owned by some of my clients,” Bright said.

The letter went on to say current and prior industrial use was not permitted and thus in violation of Worcester County Zoning Code.

A certificate of occupancy issued May 5, 2014 “allowed for the installation of ‘temporary’ pilings for the ‘staging area’” and a permit issued in Aug. 2013 expired in Nov. 2013, Bright said.

“Neither the purported ‘CO’ nor the ‘permit’ – even if lawfully issued … allow for the continuous, non-temporary, and extensive industrial use of the area in question, that has been ongoing for so many years,” Bright said.

Additionally, Bright claimed the industrial use constituted “an actionable public nuisance and/or private nuisance.”

“The ongoing industrial use of the subject property has diminished and harmed and will continue to diminish and harm the value of my clients’ respective properties,” he said.

Bright added continued use of the area violated Ocean Pines Board members’ fiduciary duty “and their responsibilities in regard to management and stewardship of Ocean Pines amenities, waterways, and common areas, and protection of health and safety of property owners and their families.”

“My clients have cognizable claims for damages and for declaratory relief and injunctive relief,” Bright said. “They are actively considering their options in this regard, but in the meantime, this is to demand the following: 1) that OPA immediately cease utilizing the subject area for industrial purposes, including what has been described and detailed in this letter; 2) that OPA remove from the area all equipment, materials, timber, pilings, sand, gravel, stone, barges, vehicles, storage trailers and containers, trash dumpsters, portable toilets, bulkheading, and other marine construction parts and components; 3) that OPA otherwise fully restore the subject area to its natural condition and its intended purpose (a park for active and passive use and enjoyment of members); 4) that OPA bind itself to a written agreement prohibiting any future industrial use of the area in question; and 5) that OPA provide assurances, consistent with number 4), that any and all RFPs and contracts for shoreline work will make clear that such area may not be used as a temporary, permanent, or other staging area for shoreline work within or outside of Ocean Pines.”

The letter requested a proposed timetable for action within five days, and that Bright be kept in the loop regarding any new requests for proposals regarding work in the area.

Ocean Pines and Worcester County officials did not respond to requests for comment.