Proponents say enforcing rules job of association

By Greg Ellison

(June 17, 2021) Going into its vote on short-term rental regulations Wednesday, the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors gave the public the opportunity to join the discussion at a town hall meeting Saturday.

Director Frank Daly, who has led the multi-year effort to establish more local control over the situation, said even though the Worcester County Commissioners enacted legislation to regulate short-term rentals, the association was told, “this is, at the end of the day, an Ocean Pines problem.”

Daly said the board had been examining the short-term rental situation and complaints about parking, noise and littering, but paused that effort after the county imposed its regulations in January 2020.

“The county said it would help, but Ocean Pines would also need to address it within its governance documents,” he said.

Daly said discussions with pro- and anti-rental parties led the board to consider incorporating the county regulations for short-term rentals, along with county litter and noise ordinances, into association declarations of restrictions.

“To put more enhanced enforcement in place,” he said.

Adding the county code requirements to declarations of restrictions would require a majority vote by each neighborhood section, he said.

Photo by Greg Ellison
Director Frank Daly speaks while board member Dr. Colette Horn surveys the crowd during a short-term rental town hall meeting Saturday.

Daly said in the handful of HOA sections developed after the mid-1990s, all federal, state and local laws apply immediately after passage.

“The board has the ability to level fines with a vote of four … members,” he said. “We’re trying to adopt for the other sections.”

Pines resident Bill Hayes, however, questioned the town hall panel of Daly, OPA President Larry Perrone, Director Dr. Colette Horn and Director Camilla Rogers.

Hayes, a longtime homeowner who has also been a property manager in Ocean Pines since 1991, said scant input was solicited from rental representatives.

“Nuisance short-term rentals are blamed for what are community-wide problems,” he said. “You think changing a paragraph in the DRs (declaration of restrictions) will change the character and atmosphere of Ocean Pines?”

Daly said the consensus is far more short-term rentals exist in Ocean Pines than the 140-odd registered with Worcester County.

Troublesome properties are almost exclusively rented through online platforms such as VRBO or Airbnb, Daly contended.

“The problem is not with properties that have property managers, but with absentee people without contacts and an ability to address problem tenants,” he said.

Daly said although critics have suggested Worcester “should do its job,” the problems stem primarily from less than a handful of rentals lacking property management oversight.

“The HOA exists for one basic reason, that is to protect the character of the community and homeowner value,” he said. “If we’re not doing that job, we should all leave.”

Hayes said short-term rental owners feel targeted.

“You can’t pick on short-term rentals and not pick on everybody else,” he said.

Perrone said the process for addressing a loud gathering at any property, even long-term rentals or permanent residents, would begin with contacting the Ocean Pines Police Department.

“They can deal with rowdy houses,” he said.

Hayes said the police are unlikely to remedy trash issues, while also noting the proposed rental regulations would prohibit celebratory gatherings, such an anniversary or birthday parties.

“We need short-term rentals and all parties at the table,” he said.

Estimating that 7 percent of Ocean Pines homes — roughly 600 residential units — are rented short-term, Hayes said all lot owners should be required to follow the “letter of the law.”

Horn agreed that the regulations should be applied community-wide.

“I see this as a step in that direction,” she said.

Horn said while three rentals with repeated complaints gained public attention in recent years, the issue is broader than that.

“We’ve gotten emails from countless others who are suffering the same difficulty,” she said.

Daly said if the board approves the rental regulations, it should then discuss how to cure rental-related parking problems with the county.

Perrone said the intent is to hold short-term rental owners accountable and not simply trust that county regulations would be followed.

“We have heard from both sides of this argument,” he said. “This is the same issue that’s being addressed in communities throughout the country.”