By Greg Ellison

(Feb. 13, 2020) Ocean Pines, because of its size and its unincorporated status, will be affected more by Worcester County’s new rental regulations than any other population center, and Ocean Pines Association officials are trying to establish what they need to do to comply.

At last Wednesday’s meeting of the OPA Board of Directors, President Doug Parks said the county’s short-term rental regulations became law on Jan. 1, primarily in response to the increasing popularity of online platforms such as Airbnb or Vrbo.

“There are now some stipulations with regard to registering your property with the county as a rental,” he said.

Last August, the county commissioners approved legislation requiring rental property owners to obtain licenses as of this January. The rule applies to all property outside the county’s municipalities that are rented for sleeping accommodations, including single-family homes, RVs, lots to park mobile homes or tents.

Parks has taken the lead in coordinating the association’s enforcement efforts with Worcester County Commissioners Chip Bertino and Jim Bunting, whose districts include Ocean Pines.

“Right now, we’ll coattail off of what they’re doing, but they’re also looking to partner with us and try to make sure that we’re consistent in how we address and identify rental properties and enforce the law,” he said.

Reporting to the other directors, board member Frank Daly, who has also been part of rental regulation discussions with county officials, said, “The county commissioners basically said that the Airbnb phenomena in the county is largely an Ocean Pines problem.”

To make matters more complicated, Ocean Pines is a homeowners association, which limits rule making.

“Where other municipalities can pass and enforce legislation, we can not,” he said.

In addition, he said, finding rental regulation violations in Ocean Pines is one thing, but enforcing them would be something else.

“The county has a regulation that says you can not stack parked cars in a driveway,” he said. “It has never been enforced and if you look at what goes on around here in the summertime, parking is the last thing anybody wants to address with new regulations.”

Board member Larry Perrone said initial talks with county officials made clear that the county is not equipped to enforce the regulations.

“Their comment was there’s no money for enforcement in the county,” he said.

Daly said at this point Worcester officials have expressed interest in developing “spot legislation” with Ocean Pines to prevent online rental platforms from “destroying the flavor” of the community.

“They clearly put the ball in our court to come to them,” he said. “They’re not going to solve the problem for us.”

Applications for a rental license are available on the DRP webpage at www.co.worcester.md.us/departments/drp.

For additional information, contact DRP staff at 410-632-1200.

OPA President Doug Parks discussed ongoing efforts to coordinate enforcement of newly enacted short-term rental regulations during the board meeting on Feb. 5.