One last detail on lease length remains undecided
A developing zoning code amendment that aims to help create more employee housing in Ocean City limits has cleared first with just one detail left to work out before final approval.
At a City Council meeting July 3, the first reading of an amendment, that adds an employee housing non-accessory option to the code, among some other additions and revisions, passed unanimously in a 6-0 vote, with Councilman Will Savage absent.
Since last year, resort officials have planned changes to the zoning code to incentivize developers to build more housing and expand living options for seasonal workers.
Council members discussed and massaged the details of the developing amendment, which went through several edits at the staff and planning commission levels, at a work session last month. The efforts reverted some of the details, with the exception of parking requirements, back to an earlier version.
One of the main focuses of the amendment was the non-accessory option, which refers to housing near, but outside of, an employees’ place of work. The existing code only allows for employee housing within the same building or on the same lot as the business providing employment.
At the last work session, council members agreed to alter the resident capacity that defines each tier, with tier 1 housing 16 or fewer people, tier 2 defined as 17 to 60 people, and tier 3 as 61 or more.
After the meeting this week, only one sticking point — the desired time limit required for leases associated with employee housing projects— remained.
Attorney Maureen Howarth, who was sitting in for City Solicitor Heather Stansbury at the meeting, said she would make a recommendation for a time limit and bring it back to council members during the second reading of the amendment. The discussions were flopping back and forth between 90 days and four months and a day, depending on the length of the season and the collection of room taxes.
This story appears in the July 7, 2023, print edition of the OC Today.
