City Finds It’s Tough to Please Everyone

OCEAN CITY – This resort’s City Council met for its regular meeting Sept. 8. Much of the opening public comment portion and member discussion centered on recommendations to expand the city’s pickleball facilities. 
One pickleball enthusiast said he and other players were very grateful to the city for researching how best to accommodate this burgeoning sport.
“We have players coming from across the U.S. including as far as Arizona to play here because it’s a big draw. Numbers are tremendous, and groups are growing who want to play,” the resident commented.
Others who took the opportunity to make their opinions known were not as supportive of expanding pickleball courts.
“I live at 18th and West and I see the courts every day. Some days there is no one there and most days the courts are only in use 60 percent of the time. I’d like to know how this initiative was decided because it doesn’t seem like it was a business decision. What is the courts’ utilization and is this just a knee-jerk reaction to groups coming in saying ‘we need this?”
A couple of other residents in the same vicinity as the location of the 18th Street pickleball courts both noted they were concerned about the noise from the pickleball courts and the lack of parking.
Director of Community Services Michael Allegretto was called upon to answer those concerns and give more background to the decision-making process to the council.
“We do have statistics regarding how many people are playing pickleball at the 18th Street courts, but most groups want to use the turf courts at Sixth Street,” he said.
“So we’re going to add more turf courts for pickleball at 18th Street and also add one more tennis court at 34th Street to balance the court that we will be adapting into multiple pickleball courts.
“We can also look into season pass rates through an ordinance that we will introduce in the fall after we decide upon the design and which will also drive discussion about costs.”
“We are doing our very best to make everyone happy; the tennis as well as the pickleball players and the neighbors who live in the vicinity of the courts,” said Mayor Jay Gillian.
“We do understand there are parking concerns, but that area belongs to the Intermediate School, and we have to remember it’s also a Green Acres area so the large field there probably will need to stay that way. We are always looking at solutions to residents’ concerns and, believe me; we’ve tried a number of ideas that were not accepted by the School Board,” Gillian continued.
Ordinances Updated
Council unanimously passed a series of ordinances on second reading and with no public comment. All were designed to improve the efficiency of municipal ordinances and make “life easier for property owners” in Gillian’s words.
One ordinance provided for, among other things, that in the Boardwalk zone one building will be allowed on one lot, and design elements will be allowed on secondary buildings in the rear of a building to improve aesthetics.
Another ordinance provides for reducing the density of properties with no Zoning Board approval needed; and that the same standards for garages will be applied throughout the municipality. That will align garages in the Gardens section of the city with other neighborhoods.
A third ordinance pertains to rear-yard setbacks and enables a “common sense approach” per Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson for the zoning officer to administer setbacks for irregular lots.
City Business Administrator James Mallon thanked Public Works employees and residents for their cooperation in preparing for possible damage from Hurricane Hermine which in his words “although it did not come showed we were more than ready.”
Mallon also reported that Ocean City would “lend a couple of police officers to Wildwood for the short term. We are always very happy to have this type of shared-services arrangement and in this case help out our neighbor to the south.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.