State car rally bill dies in General Assembly

Maryland bills threatened to ruin local Special Event Zone, but didn’t get passed

By Hunter Hine Staff Writer

(May 19, 2023) Speaking at a Motor Event Task Force meeting last Friday, Mayor Rick Meehan said Ocean City officials’ have worked to ensure the passage of statewide legislation regulating illegal car rallies would be helpful rather than hurtful for the local special event zone law.

“Our goal is to remain consistent, not to let our guard down. Things can happen very quickly, especially in this world of social media and technology,” Meehan said.

With the passing of the Special Event Zone in Worcester County, Ocean City has gotten a grip on the pop-up car rallies that plagued the resort over the past few years.

Meehan noted that localities around Maryland have started facing similar problems, noting a recent video of a car doing donuts on the bay bridge.

For the past two years Maryland lawmakers have pushed two consecutive bills aimed at controlling popup car rallies across the state, but neither passed. The way both bills were written could have ruined

Ocean City’s Special Event’s Zone, Meehan said.

In the 2022 legislative session, a senate bill targeting street racing and exhibition driving was vetoed by former Gov. Larry Hogan. State lawmakers changed language in the bill that would have affected definitions written into Ocean City’s Special

Events Zone law, which would’ve made it less enforceable, Meehan said.

In the legislative session this year, the bill returned as HB208 and SB0147, with support from Anne Arundel County representatives who had faced their own problems with pop-up events, Meehan said.

Notice Of Public Hearing

The Worcester County Commissioners will conduct a public hearing to receive comments on the proposed FY 2023/2024 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund Operating Budget as requested by the Worcester County Department of Public Works, Solid Waste Division on:

Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. in the County Commissioners’ Meeting Room Room 1101 Government Center, One West Market Street Snow Hill, Maryland 21863

The Proposed Budget maintains the current solid waste tipping fee of $75 per ton for municipal waste and $80 per ton for construction and demolition debris. Copies of the detailed budget are available for public inspection at the County Commissioners’ Office in Room 1103 of the County Government Center in Snow Hill or online at www.co.worcester.md.us.

Ocean City volunteered support for the bill, which would be in effect year-round and wouldn’t require a special events zone, he said.

The bill looked favorable to Ocean City officials through its initial hearings in the House and Senate, but lawmakers again changed the language in a way that ruined the local Special Events Zone law, Meehan said.

“When it got back in the individual committees they started to wordsmith it and changed it around and it ended up basically again diluting the impact of the law we currently have,” Meehan said.

The bill made it to a reading in the Judicial Proceedings Committee, but Sen. William C. Smith Jr., chair of the committee didn’t let the bill out of committee, Meehan said.

The bill died there.

Smith had promised that he understood how important it was to Ocean City that the bill remained as it was originally written, Meehan said.

“I do expect it (the bill) to come back again next year for all the right reasons, and I am sure that we’ll be up in Annapolis again trying to make sure that whatever is passed really does what they want it to do,” Meehan said.

For information, contact the Worcester County Treasurer’s Office at 410-632-9309.