OCEAN CITY – The road hasn’t changed, a ribbon of packed dirt over heavy rocks giving trucks access to a dredge spoils site in the marsh off Roosevelt Boulevard.
The purpose hasn’t changed, either; saving money on the cost of depositing material dredged from the back bay by hauling it over roadways instead of by boat.
The road is over wetlands, and is supposed to be temporary, removed after it is no longer needed.
Last winter, the city gave the road a name – the prosaically descriptive Haul Road for the road built for hauling silt – with the express purpose of saving money on permit fees.
Instead of paying the fees for the large area of marsh in which the road is located, the city would only pay fees for permits on the road itself.
On Nov. 29, City Council unanimously approved a new ordinance removing that name. According to a city memo, the state’s Green Acres Program sees the dedication of the roadway as a diversion of parkland.
“There will be no physical change to the road. The use of the road will remain the same, and the road will remain the sole ownership of the City of Ocean City,” City Attorney Dorothy McCrosson told council.
Through several votes on the measure, council members have joked about potential names for the roadway, especially Councilman Tony Wilson.
“Wilson Way, baby,” he said in casting his vote for the ordinance, which passed unanimously.
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