ocean city council agenda for march 27, 2012

8/2/2019 Ocean City Council Agenda for March 27, 2012

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AGENDA

MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 12:00 P.M.

Closed Session Tuesday, March 27, 2012 12:00 p.m.- 1:00 p.m. Legal and Personnel

Matters

1. Report on Closed Session Tuesday, March 27, 2012 12:00 p.m. Legal and PersonnelMatters

2. Report on Closed Sessions Thursday, March 22, 2012 and Friday, March 23, 2012 -Personnel Matters

3. Planning Commission Scooter RecommendationsPresented by: Jesse Houston, Director of Planning and Community Development

4. Continued Discussion Concerning Supplemental Funding for the Current Street Improvement

ProgramPresented by: Hal Adkins, Public Works Director

5. OC Experience UpdatePresented by: Donna Abbott, Communication Manager and Interim Tourism Director

6. Request to Purchase Hurst MOC Combi ToolPresented by: Fire Chief Chris Larmore and Jennie Knapp, Budget Manager


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WORK SESSION -MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012

1 Report on Closed Session - Tuesday, March 27, 2012

12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. Legal and Personnel Matters


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NOTICE OF CLOSED SESSION OF MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL OF OCEAN CITY

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 12:00 p.m.

PLACE: City Hall

SUBJECT: Legal and Personnel Matters

VOTE: UNANIMOUS

OTHER: FOR:

AGAINST:

ABSTAIN:

ABSENT:

AUTHORITY: State Government Article: Section 10-508(a) Annotated Code of Maryland

PURPOSES:

X

1. To discuss:

(i) the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion,

compensation, removal, resignation or performance evaluation ofappointees, employees or officials over whom it has jurisdiction; or(ii) any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals;

2. To protect the privacy or reputation of individuals with respect to a matter that is

not related to public business

3. To consider the acquisition of real property for the public purpose and matters

directly related thereto;

4. Consider a matter that concerns the proposal for a business or industrialorganization to locate, expand or locate in the state;

5. Consider the investment of public funds;

6. Consider the marketing of public securities;

X 7. Consult with counsel to obtain legal advice;8. Consult with staff, consultants or other individuals about pending or potential

litigations;

9. Conduct collective bargaining negotiations or consider matters that relate to thenegotiations;

10. Discuss public security if the public body determines that public discussionwould constitute a risk to the public or public security, including;

a) the deployment of fire and police services and staff; and

b) the development and implementation of emergency plans

11. Prepare, administer or grade a scholastic, licensing or qualifying examination;

12. Conduct or discuss an investigative proceeding on actual or possible criminal

conduct;13. Comply with a specific constitutional, statutory or judicially imposed

requirement that prevents public disclosures about a particular proceeding or

matter; or

14. Before a contract is awarded or bids are opened, discuss a matter directly relatedto a negotiation strategy or the contents of a bid or proposal, if public discussion

or disclosure would adversely impact the ability of the public body to participate

in the competitive bidding or proposal process


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REPORT OF CLOSED SESSION

OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF OCEAN CITY

Prior to this open session of the Mayor and City Council being held on Tuesday,

March 27, 2012, a closed session was held on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 12:00

p.m. The following is a report of the closed session.

1. A statement of the time, place, and purpose of the closed session is attached.

2. A record of the vote of each member as to closing the session is attached.

3. A citation of the authority under the law for closing the session is attached.

4. (a) Topics of Discussion: Legal and Personnel Matters

(b) Persons present:

Council President Jim Hall,

Council Secretary Lloyd Martin

Council Members Doug Cymek; Joe Hall, Mary Knight, Margaret Pillas and

Brent Ashley

Guy Ayres, City Solicitor

Hal Adkins, Director of Public Works

Kelly Allmond, City Clerk

Executive Office Associate Diana Chavis

Action(s) taken:

Motion to close meeting:

H:\Wpdoc\closedsess.wpd


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2 Report on Closed Sessions Personnel Matters

Thursday, March 22, 2012 and Friday, March 23, 2012


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March 27, 2012, a closed session was held on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 2:30





4. (a) Topics of Discussion: Personnel Matters


Mayor & Interim City Manager Richard Meehan

Council President Jim Hall



Brent Ashley

City Manager Candidates

Action(s) taken:




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March 27, 2012, a closed session was held on Friday, March 23, 2012 at 8:30





4. (a) Topics of Discussion: Personnel Matters


Mayor & Interim City Manager Richard Meehan

Council President Jim Hall,



Brent Ashley

City Manager Candidates

Action(s) taken:




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3 Planning Commission Scooter Recommendations

Presented by: Jesse Houston, Director of Planning and

Community Development


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March 7, 2012

RECOMMENDATION FROM PLANNING COMMISSION

RENTAL OF MOTOR SCOOTERS, MOPEDS AND SIMILAR MOTORIZED

VEHICLES

Conditional Use - Rental of motor scooters, mopeds, scoot coops and similar motorizedvehicles permitted by Conditional Use in the following districts: LC-1 LocalCommercial, SC-1 Shopping Center, BMUD Bayside Mixed Use, B-1 BoardwalkCommercial, BC-2 Boardwalk Commercial, DMX Downtown Mixed Use, and MManufacturing Districts. (Licensing requirements would be part of conditional useapproval.)

Nonconforming Uses A rental business possessing a valid business license as of April30, 2012, that does not comply with the new licensing requirements may renew the

license for the license year 2012-2013. After May 31, 2013, all such businesses shallhave an approved conditional use and be subject to the new licensing regulations.License renewals for 2012-2013 must comply with all newly adopted regulations to theextent possible.

Insurance Requirements Licensee must provide the Town of Ocean City written proofof a business insurance policy of at least $1,000,000.

Rentals to licensed drivers Vehicles may only be rented to persons with a valid driverslicense. Renters under the age of 18 must have parents or guardians written permission.

Instruction and training - Licensee must provide instruction and training to eachcustomer in advance of the rental of the vehicle. Training must include at least thefollowing:

1. Explanation of State and local laws and regulations including:a. Permitted locations for driving vehicles as set forth in Sec. 21-1205.1

of the Annotated Code of Maryland.b. Operating at a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour.c. Requirement for renters to wear helmets.d. Requirement for proper lights and reflectors for operation after dark.e. Prohibition on cell phone use, texting and wearing headphones while

operating the vehicle.f. Unlawful operation of the vehicle while impaired or intoxicated.

2. Starting, stopping, turning and otherwise controlling the vehicle.3. Proper use of controls including but not limited to, turn signals, horn, brakes,

stand, and lights.4. The licensee must provide a training area on the premise of the business or on

other private property within a reasonable walking distance of the business.The training area must be an unobstructed paved surface at least 20 feet wideby 50 feet long in order to provide adequate space to turn, accelerate and stop


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the vehicle. Prospective customers must be walked to the training area. Thetraining area shall not interfere with parking spaces, drive aisles, or accesspoints used by other businesses or residences. Training shall not take place onpublic property or rights of way without permission of the Mayor and CityCouncil.

5. The licensee or a trained representative shall observe the prospective renteroperate the vehicle in the training area. The licensee shall refuse to rent thevehicle to any prospective renter who cannot demonstrate the ability to drivethe vehicle safely.

Use of public property The following activities shall not take place on public propertyincluding sidewalks, rights of way, parks, beaches or the Boardwalk.

1. Driving or operating vehicles except on areas approved for motorizedvehicular operation (e.g.,streets, alleys, parking lots).

2. Displaying vehicles for rent.3. Training.

4. Fueling, maintenance and storage of vehicles.

Storage of vehicles When the business is closed, vehicles must be stored within abuilding or temporary storage container.

Business transactions Sales transactions shall take place inside a building.

Fueling Fueling methods and locations shall be approved by the Ocean City FireMarshal. All fueling must take place outside.

Number of riders on a vehicle The number of riders on a vehicle shall not exceed themanufacturers limit.

Identification of ownership of rental vehicles Each rental vehicle and its owner must beidentified as required by the Mayor and City Council.

Testing of vehicles All rental vehicles are required by State law have a capacity of 50cubic centimeters piston displacement or less. The Ocean City Police Department isauthorized to inspect rental vehicles at any time to determine compliance with thislimitation.


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SUMMARY OF SCOOTER / MOPED ACCIDENT DATA

Reported on MAARS Forms

Year # Accidents Fault of Scooter Driver? Rented Privately

Yes No Owned

2009 28 13 15 12 162010 71 34 36 33 38

2011 68 39 29 36 32

SCOOTER INCIDENTS (Including those NOT

Reported on MAARS Forms)

Year No. Of Incidents

2010 104

2011 158


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Case Number Date Time DOW Type of Vehicle Gender Age Fault Hospital Establishment

2009001004 4/25/09 1049 SAT Motor Scooter UNK UNK No PRMC Continental Cycles

2009002048 6/6/09 1723 SAT Motor Scooter Male 16 No AGH Privately Owned

2009002048 6/6/09 1723 SAT Motor Scooter Male 16 No No Privately Owned

2009002048 6/6/09 1723 SAT Motor Scooter Female 16 No AGH Privately Owned

2009002394 6/10/09 1258 WED Moped Male 19 Yes AGH Privately Owned

2009002970 6/16/09 1452 TUES Moped Male 18 No AGH Privately Owned

2009002395 6/10/09 1257 WED Motor Scooter Male 19 Yes AGH Island Cycles

2009003404 6/23/09 1320 TUES Motor Scooter Male 20 Yes AGH Fun Cycles

2009003562 6/26/09 1922 FRI Motor Scooter Male 21 Yes No Privately Owned2009003614 6/26/09 1004 FRI Motor Scooter Male 20 Yes No Privately Owned

2009003761 6/29/09 1554 MON Motor Scooter Male 26 No AGH Fun Cycles

2009003901 7/3/09 0031 FRI Moped Male 25 No PRMC Privately Owned

2009004123 7/5/09 1800 SUN Motor Scooter Male 24 Yes PRMC Fun Cycles

2009004476 7/12/09 1604 SUN Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes No Privately Owned

2009004542 7/14/09 1139 TUES Motor Scooter Male 21 Yes PRMC OC Watersports

2009004598 7/15/09 1938 WED Motor Scooter Male 19 No AGH Island Cycles

2009003399 6/23/09 1141 TUES Moped Female 21 No No Privately Owned

2009004813 7/19/09 1814 SUN Motor Scooter Male 18 No PRMC Island Cycles

2009004813 7/19/09 1814 SUN Motor Scooter Female 17 No PRMC Island Cycles

2009005170 7/27/09 0853 MON Motor Scooter Female 15 No No Continental Cycles

2009005615 8/6/09 1131 THUR Motor Scooter Male UNK No No Privately Owned

2009005680 8/7/09 1711 FRI Moped Female 23 No PRMC Privately Owned

2009005956 8/13/09 1810 THUR Motor Scooter Male UNK Yes No Privately Owned

2009006866 9/7/09 1701 MON Moped Male 23 Yes No Privately Owned2009006816 9/6/09 1612 SUN Motor Scooter Male 23 Yes No Island Cycles

2009006821 9/6/09 1823 SUN Motor Scooter Female 22 No AGH Island Cycles

2009007204 9/24/09 1752 THUR Motor Scooter Male 23 Yes AGH Privately Owned

2009007618 10/22/09 0216 THUR Motor Scooter Male 28 Yes No Privately Owned

2010000270 1/25/10 1220 MON Moped UNK UNK Yes No Privately Owned

2010000789 4/4/10 1811 SUN Moped Male 25 Yes AGH Privately Owned

2010001486 5/22/10 2243 SAT Moped Male 15 No PRMC Privately Owned

2010001495 5/22/10 2355 SAT Moped Male 18 No PRMC Privately Owned

2010001761 5/30/10 1311 SUN Motor Scooter Female 22 Yes No Island Cycles

2010001775 5/30/10 1549 SUN Motor Scooter Male 41 No No Island Cycles


Prepared by OCPD Crime Analyst

Brandon Reim


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2010001949 6/3/2010 1816 THUR Motor Scooter Male 18 No NoCasablanca Scooter

Rentals

2010001694 5/29/10 1949 SAT Moped Male 22 No No Privately Owned

2010002047 6/5/10 1818 SAT Motor Scooter Male 20 Yes No Island Cycles

2010002312 6/8/10 1518 TUES Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes No Island Cycles

2010002398 6/9/10 1815 WED Motor Scooter Male 19 No PRMC Waterways

2010002598 6/11/10 2139 FRI Motor Scooter Male 18 No No Island Cycles

2010002235 6/7/10 1756 MON Motor Scooter Male 17 Yes No Island Cycles

2010002487 6/10/10 0415 THUR Motor Scooter Male 17 Yes No Privately Owned2010002691 6/12/10 1902 SAT Motor Scooter Male 23 Yes No Island Cycles


2010002944 6/15/10 1449 TUES Motor Scooter Male 19 Yes No Domani Scooters

2010002470 6/10/10 1050 THUR Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes Yes Island Cycles

2010002683 6/12/10 1454 SAT Motor Scooter Male 19 Yes No Domani Scooters

2010003077 6/17/10 1347 THUR Motor Scooter Male 19 No No Privately Owned

2010003015 6/16/10 1733 WED Motor Scooter Female 18 Yes No Domani Scooters

2010002955 6/15/10 2001 TUES Motor Scooter Male 16 No No Island Cycles

2010002955 6/15/10 2001 TUES Motor Scooter Female 18 Yes PRMC Island Cycles

2010003335 6/20/10 1350 SUN Motor Scooter Male 20 No No Fun Cycles

2010003400 6/22/10 1802 TUES Motor Scooter Male 18 No No Island Cycles

2010003432 6/22/10 1440 TUES Motor Scooter Male 25 No No Privately Owned

2010003474 6/23/10 1553 WED Motor Scooter Male 24 No AGH Privately Owned

2010003714 6/27/10 0328 SUN Moped Male 18 Yes AGH Privately Owned

2010003943 7/2/10 1520 FRI Motor Scooter Male 20 Yes AGH Privately Owned

2010004145 7/4/10 1949 SUN Motor Scooter Male 21 No AGHCasablanca Scooter

Rentals

2010004344 7/7/10 1432 WED Motor Scooter Male 19 No No Privately Owned

2010004249 7/5/10 1628 MON Motor Scooter Male 50 Yes PRMC Privately Owned

2010004154 7/4/10 2016 SUN Motor Scooter Male 20 No No Domani Scooters

2010004505 7/11/10 1151 SUN Motor Scooter Male 21 No No Privately Owned

2010004526 7/11/10 2006 SUN Moped Female 30 Yes No Privately Owned

2010004269 7/5/10 2144 MON Motor Scooter Male 40 No AGH Island Cycles

2010004425 7/9/10 1816 FRI Motor Scooter Male 34 Yes No Island Cycles


2010004875 7/19/10 1200 MON Motor Scooter Male 56 No No Island Cycles

2010004632 7/14/10 1609 WED Unknown UNK UNK Unk No Privately Owned


Brandon Reim


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2010005126 7/24/10 1607 SAT Motor Scooter UNK UNK No No Domani Scooters

2010005034 7/22/10 2307 THUR Moped Male 28 Yes No Privately Owned

2010005280 7/27/10 2253 TUES Moped Male 21 Yes No Privately Owned


2010005728 8/5/10 2007 THUR Motor Scooter Female 23 Yes No Privately Owned

2010005775 8/6/10 1858 FRI Motor Scooter Male 24 Yes Yes Privately Owned

2010005959 8/9/10 2052 MON Motor Scooter Male 20 Yes PRMC Privately Owned

2010005767 8/6/10 1639 FRI Motor Scooter Male 31 No No Privately Owned2010005898 8/8/10 1158 SUN Motor Scooter Male 15 Yes No Privately Owned

2010006163 8/14/10 1134 SAT Motor Scooter Male 27 Yes No Privately Owned

2010006121 8/12/10 2045 THUR Motor Scooter Male 45 No PRMC Privately Owned

2010006169 8/14/10 1621 SAT Moped Male 70 Yes PRMC Privately Owned

2010006381 8/19/10 2131 THUR Motor Scooter Female 29 Yes AGH Waterways

2010005997 8/10/10 1806 TUES Moped Male 23 No No Privately Owned

2010006477 8/21/10 1739 SAT Moped Male 21 Yes AGH Privately Owned

2010006538 8/22/10 2112 SUN Motor Scooter Female 17 Yes No Island Cycles

2010006538 8/22/10 2112 SUN Motor Scooter Female 17 No No Island Cycles

2010006230 8/15/10 1623 SUN Motor Scooter Male 20 No PRMC Privately Owned

2010005897 8/8/10 1222 SUN Motor Scooter Male 16 Yes AGH Island Cycles

2010006572 8/23/10 1722 MON Motor Scooter Male 25 No No Domani Scooters

2010006572 8/23/10 1722 MON Motor Scooter Male 27 No No Domani Scooters

2010006823 8/31/10 1806 TUES Motor Scooter Male 51 Yes AGH Fun Cycles

2010007039 9/7/10 1938 TUES Motor Scooter Male 22 No No Fun Cycles2010007236 9/17/10 2243 FRI Motor Scooter Male 38 No PRMC Privately Owned

2010007290 9/19/10 0219 SUN Moped Male 60 Yes No Privately Owned

2010007414 9/25/10 1420 SAT Motor Scooter Male 66 No No Privately Owned

2010007484 9/29/10 1044 WED Motor Scooter Male 47 No PRMC Privately Owned

2010007236 9/17/10 2243 FRI Motor Scooter Male 38 No PRMC Privately Owned

2010007598 10/10/10 0158 SUN Motor Scooter Male 29 No AGH Privately Owned

2011001176 5/12/11 0220 THUR Motor Scooter Male 28 Yes AGH Privately Owned

2011001469 5/25/11 1315 WED Motor Scooter Female 62 Yes AGH OC Scooters


2011001610 5/28/11 2323 SAT Motor Scooter Male 18 No PRMC Privately Owned

2011001879 6/2/11 1024 THUR Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes No Island Cycles

2011002197 6/7/11 1257 TUES Motor Scooter Female 18 Yes No Domani Scooters


Brandon Reim


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2011001985 6/4/11 2134 SAT Motor Scooter Male 24 No No Waterways


2011002061 6/5/11 1637 SUN Motor Scooter Male 22 Yes No Island Cycles


2011002190 6/7/11 1015 TUES Motor Scooter Male 63 Yes No Privately Owned


2011002325 6/8/11 2016 WED Motor Scooter Female 18 Yes PRMC Domani Scooters

2011002503 6/10/11 1933 FRI Motor Scooter Male 17 No No Island Cycles

2011002640 6/11/11 2146 SAT Moped Female 25 Yes AGH Privately Owned2011001965 6/4/11 1552 SAT Motor Scooter Male 16 No No Privately Owned

2011002892 6/14/11 1133 TUES Motor Scooter Male 19 No AGH Privately Owned

2011002830 6/13/11 1659 MON Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes AGH Island Cycles

2011002830 6/13/11 1659 MON Motor Scooter Male 56 Yes AGH Island Cycles


2011003206 6/18/11 1357 SAT Motor Scooter Female 19 Yes No Privately Owned



2011002901 6/14/11 1527 TUES Motor Scooter Male 19 Yes No Cycle City

2011003296 6/19/11 1825 SUN Motor Scooter Male 19 Yes No Island Cycles

2011003471 6/22/11 1812 WED Motor Scooter Male 30 No NoScooters by the

Beach2011003218 6/18/11 1728 SAT Motor Scooter Male 18 No No Island Cycles

2011002526 6/10/11 2321 FRI Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes No Privately Owned

2011003840 6/29/11 0046 WED Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes PRMC Cycle City2011003907 6/30/11 1413 THUR Motor Scooter Female 21 No AGH Island Cycles


2011004256 7/4/11 1905 MON Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes No Island Cycles

2011004163 7/3/11 2205 SUN Motor Scooter Male 22 No NoScooters by the

Beach



2011004054 7/2/11 1841 SAT Motor Scooter Female 18 Yes No Domani Scooters


2011004160 7/3/11 2130 SUN Motor Scooter Female 23 No AGH Domani Scooters

2011004822 7/15/11 1407 FRI Motor Scooter Male 34 No PRMC Privately Owned



Brandon Reim


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2011005127 7/21/11 1339 THUR Motor Scooter Male 44 No No Island Cycles


2011005242 7/23/11 1028 SAT Motor Scooter Male 25 No PRMC Privately Owned

2011005423 7/26/11 1657 TUES Motor Scooter Female 33 No AGH Waterways

2011005820 8/2/11 1814 TUES Motor Scooter Male 18 No No Fun Cycles


2011005573 7/29/11 1231 FRI Motor Scooter Female 38 No AGH Island Cycles

2011005179 7/16/11 0042 SAT Motor Scooter Male 20 Yes No Beachside Scooter

2011005594 7/29/11 2243 FRI Motor Scooter Male 25 No AGH Privately Owned2011005929 8/5/11 1555 FRI Motor Scooter Male 24 Yes No Privately Owned


2011006431 8/15/11 1552 MON Motor Scooter Male 46 Yes No Privately Owned

2011006503 8/17/11 1708 WED Motor Scooter Male 18 Yes AGH Island Cycles

2011006654 8/21/11 0047 SUN Motor Scooter Male 30 Yes PRMC Domani Scooters

2011006475 8/16/11 1815 TUES Motor Scooter Male 23 No No Privately Owned

2011006769 8/24/11 1500 WED Motor Scooter Male 56 No AGH Privately Owned


2011006764 8/24/11 1731 WED Motor Scooter Female 21 Yes AGH Island Cycles

2011006880 8/31/11 2128 WED Motor Scooter Male 36 No No Privately Owned



2011007110 9/7/11 0958 WED Motor Scooter Male 24 Yes No Privately Owned

2011007050 9/5/11 2245 MON Moped Male 21 No PRMC Privately Owned

2011007295 9/17/11 1215 SAT Motor Scooter Female 29 Yes AGH Privately Owned2011006874 8/31/11 1507 WED Motor Scooter Male 52 Yes PRMC Privately Owned

2011006829 8/29/11 1334 MON Motor Scooter Male 30 No No Island Cycles


2011007786 10/20/11 1911 THUR Moped Male 24 No AGH Privately Owned


Brandon Reim


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PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION

Scooters, Scoot-Coupes, et. al., Public Hearing

February 22, 2012

PRESENT IN ATTENDANCEPam Buckley Blaine SmithJohn Staley Kay StroudPeck Miller Jesse HoustonChris Shanahan Bob NelsonLauren Taylor Kevin Gregory, Attorney

This meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission was held on Wednesday,February 22, 2012, in the City Hall Council Chambers located on Baltimore Avenue and3rd Street, Ocean City, Maryland. Pam Buckley, Commission Chairwoman, called the

meeting to order.

BUCKLEY: Alright, wed like to call to order the public hearing tonight which is on OceanCity scooters and it is to consider: Scooters, scoot-coupes, and other names commonlyassociated with such vehicles that do not require a State vehicle registration license as aspecial exception or conditional use with the appropriate safeguards and regulations invarious zoning districts. The applicant is the Planning and Zoning Commission and it isfile #12-14100001, and prior to each public hearing the chairman is asked to state Isany person in attendance object to the Commission member taking part in this publichearing due to a conflict of interest. The Commission, excluding the person in questionshall decide by majority vote if that person challenged may take part. Does anyone inattendance have any problem with the Commissioners on the dias taking part in this

public hearing? Let the record state that theres no objections. And Mr. Houston willgive us the record and we will have him sworn in.

GREGORY: Sir do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

HOUSTON: I do. Jesse Houston, Planning Director for the Town. I think what Ill do islay out maybe the format that we have recommended for the hearing, and then well getinto the details of it. Basically Im going to give you an introduction why were here anda little bit of background. Blaine will then take over and go through the currentregulations, how the current codes handle these scooter, scoot-coupes, mopeds,whatever we want to call them, the rentals of those. Hes also going to discuss somepolice data, accident data, some concerns or interests the Fire Marshal has, so well talk

about all those different codes. And then Ill come back and go over some issues toconsider. Weve done some research on other communities and how some othercommunities handle this, so well go through a list of items that you might want toconsider and then I guess youll want to take some comments, or if you have questionsor comments, then take comments from the audience, and then decide on if you want todeliberate this evening, if you want to wait until your next meeting to deliberate, so youcan decide on that at the end. And then of course at the end, youll make arecommendation to the Mayor and City Council. So to start with, this item has beenreferred to you by the Mayor and City Council. I know at one point, maybe a year or so


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ago, you all had also mentioned that you had concerns about the rentals of thesevehicles. But the Mayor and City Council have referred this to you for public hearing,and ultimately for a recommendation from you to them. The vehicles that are beingaddressed, Ill read what the City attorney, how he has described them. Basically itsthe rental or sale of motorized vehicles with a purported capacity of 50 ccs or less,which are not required to be licensed by the State of Maryland. So thats sort of the

definition of the vehicles that were concerned about and its what you see, you knowwhat they are, theyre the scooters, the scoot-coupes, the mopeds, those sorts ofvehicles. The Mayor and City Council did pass a moratorium on January 31, 2012. Ivegiven the attorney a copy of it, and hell enter that as an exhibit, or well enter that as anexhibit into this hearing. The moratorium was to not issue any new or renewal businesslicenses for these businesses for at least 90 days or until they pass new regulations onthese ordinances. So the 90 days for the moratorium would expire on April 30th, so therewill be no business licenses issued before 90 days or sooner if you get arecommendation to them and they pass it sooner than that. So right now we have kindof a rest period to work on these regulations, and again the moratorium states that theMayor and City Council has determined that the proliferation of these vehicles on thestreets and roadways within the Town creates a safety issue as theres no training in the

use and operation of these vehicles required. So thats sort of the reasoning that theMayor and City Council gave for enacting the moratorium. So, thats why were here,thats kind of your background; well talk about, as I said, later on, well talk about someitems to consider, and now I think Blaine is going to talk about how we handle thesecurrently in the zoning code, maybe some police department, and some fire marshalissues and Ill be back to give you some more detail.

GREGORY: Sir, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but thetruth?

SMITH: I do.

GREGORY: Thank you.

SMITH: My name is Blaine Smith, Zoning Administrator. I think to explain our zoningregulations as they are today and how we got to this point with the regulation of bothscooter and bicycle. Current zoning regulations allow indoor and outdoor sale and rentalof bicycles in all commercial districts, and if its in a residential district, its a specialexception permit. And when, 3-5 years ago when scooters started becoming popular,we treated as same as bicycle as far as how they would conduct business and I think asJesse has stated, the proliferation, the competitive nature of the rental programs, andthen the incidents that the police have reported to us, and things of that nature, we findthat there is some need to do some type of regulation to be able to maintain safety withthe user of the scooter if nothing else. I think once they get into the street, then

obviously thats the State Highway and the police and the State Highway, with the size ofthe engine being 50 cc or less, is also under state law, under Department of MotorVehicle, and the police enforce that. As to bicycle rental and the scooter rental as whatwere doing today, we do require parking at one point in time it was one parking spaceper 10 bicycle, or device, if you will. A few years ago, I think 2007, we changed ourparking regulation to be one parking space per 200 square feet of display area, soultimately, depending on the size of the bicycle or scooter, or whatever, however manyyou could put in the 200 square feet of display area that was one required customerparking space. And we will show you some photo later, how theyve been displayed, in


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years past. You can see how that affects neighboring properties and what have you, asfar as how theyre displayed and utilized as well as whether theres available trainingarea without using public streets and sidewalks and that type of thing. So well try to talkthrough that as to what we have seen over the last 3-5 year, on how theyve conductedbusiness on and off the property. Downtown has, the Upper Downtown, and the LowerDowntown, which is pretty much all commercial districts, and there are several of these

operations along Baltimore Avenue, and Philadelphia Avenue. Once you get north of17th Street, there are several in different locations, some are on commercial properties,some are in shopping center properties, and they have operated in that fashion. A fewof these have been there for many years, especially when you use the term moped,around 70-some Street theyve rented moped there for many many years from that littlestrip center. But most of these have become new location, and we have experiencedregulation as to parking, signage, we have been working with the Fire Marshals officebecause of fuel handling, some of these are stored inside, some of them are maintainedinside of buildings, some of them have mixed occupancy, be it commercial or residentialin the same building. The Fire Marshal has assured me that, until currently (correction Mr. Smiths meaning was up-to-date, current), they do regulate and make sure theyrefire-safe on how they store and put these in buildings, and they have regulated them

ongoing and inspect them regularly. And they thought they have done their part tomaintain the life safety to a high degree, however, this statement that theyve given meis that should we go to a special exception or conditional use they would comment sitespecific, you know, on any request that might come and any experience that hashappened and they would review the request and they would make sure whatever theproposal is would be maintained life-safe. But they have thought they have done a fair

job maintaining these as is these last few years. The police report, and we had hoped toget, a crime analysis on the number of incidents and things like that. Mainly what theyhave reported to me, and the number, theres several incidents, and I dont have all thestatistics but what it boiled down to was negligence and the inexperienced rider. Theygo out onto the public street and theyre either inexperienced or negligent as to how theyuse these, and probably because of inexperience, I dont necessarily want to say theyre

careless they just dont necessarily know how to handle it. And when you get up to 50ccs, if youre near 50 ccs youre almost to a motorcycle speed, and I think that as tohow they are allowed to be on public street and public ways, Ive heard, because Im notan expert on this but I believe that you have to be on streets that are posted 40 or lessmiles per hour, which is Coastal Highway is 40 miles per hour (mph). If youre like onRoute 50 I dont think you can get into a high-speed zone, like a 55 speed, I dont thinktheyre allowed to ride in those type areas, but were an urban setting and they could beon probably any of our streets unless the Mayor and Council decide to do otherwise, andI think at one point they were considering to limit them to certain streets, and Im not100% sure on that, but thats up to the Mayor and Council and the HighwayAdministration and those, is how they regulate them on the street. There was someissue on how to, because Jesse used the word purported 50 ccs I would not know

one engine from another, personally. And I believe, on the regulatory side, if that is thecriteria, and its part of the criteria we have to make enforceable, that anyrecommendation that you all would have to the Mayor and Council so that we canregulate and enforce it, that we need to have the right criteria and the properenforcement, be it either the police and/or the zoning office. These, as you know, aConditional Use, youd be the hearing examiner and the Mayor and Council would be thefinal decision based on your recommendation; whereas if you did a special exception, itwould go to the Board of Zoning Appeal. Normally if the Board of Zoning Appeal hear acase they weigh the testimony, and they can approve it or disapprove it based on what


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they hear. I think if you all want the Conditional Use, normally you look at theneighboring properties, make recommendation, and you can set standard through thatconditional use process that maybe the Board of Zoning Appeal would not have theexpertise, if you will. Because youre looking at the whole neighborhood youre lookingat the adjacent properties, even though they would as well, a lot of times they depend ontestimony from the opponents, if you will.

BUCKLEY: Um hm.

SMITH: But you look at it from a planning mood, and you know, I think if you see youdlook at a particular location site-specific with all the controls that would protect the valuesof properties and the compatibilities of properties and other things, which the Board ofAppeals would do it in part, but your expertise on the planning and the location of thesetype uses, just like were talking about design standards and things of that, I think itsmore in line for you all to evaluate if its going to be an allowed use or a conditional usewhereas sending it to the Board of Zoning Appeals, theyre not as involved as we are inday to day land use planning. So thats something you may take into advisement from aregulatory standpoint. I have looked into the process when we got into watersport,

water-related activities on the bay. A lot of that was safety, the handling of fuelsbecause of contamination in the bay and incidence and that type thing. These probablyhave some of the same inherent type things, training the people in how to properly ridethem, so that, which is a conditional use, and so you can do that evaluation, you can getthe departmental review comments

BUCKLEY: Right.

SMITH: and things of that nature. It too involves parking, it involved having onsiteemployee toilet facilities, storage of fuel, you know, be it bulk-storage or what have you.If in fact these facilities, these types of, bicycles are not motorized; so you dont worryabout fumes.

BUCKLEY: Right.

SMITH: These are motorized, and they do have oils and they do leak from time to time.When you start putting them in buildings, fumes and things like that, and I talked to theFire Marshal about it, you know, how much can you supervise once you take it inside ofa building, and if theres fumes and things of that nature, its different that putting abicycle stored inside at night versus putting some of these inside that might have themufflers and all the other stuff that have heat built up and things of that nature. So Ithink that there are safety issues, not just on the road but on how they are handled onthe property and how they are stored at night and things of that nature. Then again, theFire Marshal assured me that they do regulate that, but still those are the things you

have to be concerned about. We have taken picture of virtual ever rental site, now thesepicture were taken recently, so you would not see scooters in all instance, but wevegone back, maybe as far back as 2008 and 09, and picked up pictures where weve hadenforcement issues, and we can tell you which, and youll see the picture of today, anexample this is Talbot Street and Baltimore Avenue, and they place a scooter up onthe porch

BUCKLEY: Um hm.


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SMITH: and if Bob keeps moving, I can kind of real quickly (showing power-point slideshow), thats the same thing, a close-up.

BUCKLEY: Yeah, we have no walkway.

SMITH: It sometimes blocks the ingress and egress, and we can just keep moving

those because theyre all the same. Thats the north end of that building. They trainthose folks over on our city street, thats where theyve been doing their training programbecause they have no other place to do it.

BUCKLEY: Um hm.

SMITH: Okay

BUCKLEY: Well, at least they were training them.

SMITH: thats with nothing on the property. Now this is, and the gentleman who ownsthis, hes here. This is a, I think around 26th Street, and they have a, thats their parking

lot, and youll see scooter thats associated with that as the pictures keep happening.Well, this is out near Coastal Highway, and thats down along side the property. Theykeep them well-stored, they have a nice training area in the parking lot, and that parkinglot is strictly for their business, so theyre not competing or interfering with everybusiness that are adjacent. And theyve maintained an operation I guess probably, threeor four years now, and they were one of the first ones to get into the scoot-coupe, thecoupe device. Now this one is near the Taylor Bank, theres a motel site. They haveplaced them on the landscape strip, theres a banner, and here they are out along theroad in the parking lot where you have motel people and, I couldnt do anything about itbecause there was extra parking there and they were able to occupy the parking space.Now what I have done more recently, and it was at the shopping center up north, theFood Lion, I brought it to the Planning Commission, that was the best I could do was to

try to put a handle on it at staff level, so if theyre going to start doing this, but some ofthese got done, thats actually the back side of 45th Street Village, so they

MILLER: Well, did that one that you just showed have an area for training onsite thatwasnt competing with other people?

SMITH: No, no. Its all with the motel, you know, and when that picture was taken therewasnt a lot of guests in the parking lot, but you know, from time to time there will be, andespecially on weekends, youve got Friday, Saturday, Sunday, theres going to be theturn-over traffic and things of that nature. And if they tried to train them, that would bemixed use on that parking lot. Okay, and again thats, and at the 45th Street Village theydo have some back area to do training, but you know, they store them in those shipping

container. This one has been there for a number of years. Its right at what used to beTutti Gustis, to the south of them, the next unit south, and they, I would assume they

just get them out on the road somehow and take off. Theres, theres a parking lot in theback

BUCKLEY: They use to have, doesnt it have a rear entrance in the back?

SMITH: Yeah, but whether they take them around there and practice in that back,because theres a parking lot in that back


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BUCKLEY: Right.

SMITH: and what have you, which is also a public alley back there, but they may ormay not do that. But I think if you made it under certain conditions or if you made it aconditional use, then you could understand it before you approve it. They would explain,

performance-wise how they were going to maintain and train the people.

BUCKLEY: Yeah.

MILLER: And whether theyre going to train them right.

SMITH: Yeah. This is sort of what has happened, and I really dont know, and they mayhave ways that they help them become comfortable before they put them on the street,again its 45th Street and they were putting them out near the landscape strip and nearthe highway, and quite often theyll put the banners up. Thats a quick way of getting,you know, the signage. Need to get some orientation on that one.

BUCKLEY: Oh where is that, Somer-

TAYLOR & MILLER: Somerset Street

BUCKLEY: Yeah, thats downtown.

SMITH: Okay, thats bicycles, thats not scooters as such, yeah thats bicycles. This isat the Kitchen Restaurant, they were doing it in the parking lot of the Kitchen Restaurant.And I think last year they may not have done it, they did it year before. But there wassome set-up there for scooters, and they couldve done it in the parking lot but then youdo have other uses that utilize that parking lot. Its zoned commercial. Thats SomersetStreet again. This is Mikes Bikes, and now its Bills Bikes, but for years they didnt do

scooter, after-hours they would do scooters when the bicycles, because that was like 10or 11 oclock, then they would go to scooters in the nighttime, or late hours, and theywould operate from the back side of that building. They do have a parking lot thatssomewhat theirs, so there wouldnt be a lot of interference. Now this ones at 2nd Street,the motel on the west side of Baltimore Avenue. They really dont have any trainingarea, and they do have the motel guests along 2nd Street, its all parking; and thats howthey store them sometimes, you know, to leave them outdoors. Part of thats our right-of-way; now this is 2nd Street between Baltimore Avenue and the Boardwalk and thesecond building on the left and youll see more pictures with the scooter. He jumped onthat one, thats uh. Now that one right there is, they did on the walk area of theshopping center, its like, Tony Russos building, and they do have a parking lot to thenorth, but that serves that whole center, and they do put them out on the walk area.

Now they maintain the egress out to the public sidewalk, but it does somewhat block theporch area. And thats the parking lot to the north of that building where they could dosome degree of training. This is Larry Laytons Family Restaurant, and this past yearone of those stores was vacant, and they did them up on the porch of that one area, andthey too have a parking lot out back that serves that whole center. So, it would still be amixed use if you used the parking lot for training. And the parking lot to the north isCVS. That was, I believe that might be where the mopeds are.

TAYLOR: Its like 18th Street.


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SMITH: Yeah.

MILLER: Its the second one next to Dunkin Donuts where they had them, and theywould, they had them out in the parking lot.

SMITH: It was in the parking lot, yeah. So thats a mixed use, and you know, if it were arequest made there, then you would look at how to safeguard the community for thatpurpose. This was, its just south of the Minit Market, and theyve got that whole backarea for training, so its got adequate facilities if you will, with display and training. Thisis the one we saw earlier. This is north of 34th or 35th Street, 33rd? And they have a(indistinguishable) that they can train, because their total commitment there is for thatone business, so they could train there on their parcel.

MILLER: The one I got, I called a lot, got some phone calls on that because they werein the back of Seven Seas Condo, in the parking lot training people.

SMITH: And thats the thing, once they get on they can go through neighborhoods up

and down alleys

MILLER: And thats why they were training back there, supposedly what the owner said.

SMITH: Yeah, right.

MILLER: Because thats Docs parking right there, for Ocean Atlantic, those spaces yousee right there? Between the two buildings is the parking spaces for Ocean Atlantic Ithink.

SMITH: Oh, its not theirs?

MILLER: Well, I think he owns both buildings.

SMITH: Okay, yeah.

MILLER: I guess its common maybe.

SMITH: But theyve been there for two or three years now at that location with scooterrental. Uh, thats the Adkins Company property and they were doing it in a few of theparking space. Now, since Adkins Companys gone out theyve got adequate parking, ifyou will, but it is a little bit mixed use in conjunction with the T-shirt Shop, but theyre adistance from the store entrance and all of that, I mean, but still, thats what you wouldlook at it if they wanted to request a permit to do it there. You would make sure that

there are enough safeguards employed that it would be safe and operable. Thats theold Cloudbreak, this was the first year I think they did them there, and theyve got theirback area and their parking lot to the north is strictly for that use. Thats the mopeds.Yeah, thats the one thats done moped for many years. And they use the parking lot fordisplay. And I suspect they probably train them, if theyre not familiar, in that parking lot.This one I think, this one you saw and they eventually moved the scooters to that backbuilding rather than have them out by the highway. When you first saw it, they had a fewout at the highway, but then they moved them back to that building. This is back to 2nd


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Street, its just showing one of them parked in our right-of-way because we own some ofthat right-of-way. There they are in our street, and we see this often in some areas.

MILLER: Is that 2nd Street?

SMITH: Yes. Now I will say that City Engineer have allowed them a couple parking

spaces from time to time, whether we continue that practice or not is what were thinkingof, you know, thats what weve got to be careful of. But then if they train, do they train inthe street, because they barely have enough property to store them on the property andthats why theyre putting them in the parking space.

BUCKLEY: Right.

SMITH: And this is back to the 16th Street, Tony Russos property with them up on thatporch.

BUCKLEY: Right.

SMITH: And these are the ones that are there by Mackys in that front parking lot.Theyve had mopeds and jet skis rental there for many years, and they do have a little bitof a use area but its for the marina activity and other things, so I mean, if you looked atit, you would weigh the good and the bad of it and how they operate.

BUCKLEY: Okay.

SMITH: So those are examples and the best we could pull up, you know, in a short timespan.

BUCKLEY: You know, you said, from the OCPD, did we get, did you say you hadanything from them?

SMITH: I have a letter but they are talking about the negligence of the rider

BUCKLEY: Okay, but no specifics

SMITH: and the inexperience of the rider, but they do have a lot of data that the crimeanalyst was working on, but I, Ill use the word neglected, to get it all. They do have it

BUCKLEY: how long do you think it will take to get that?

SMITH: I think we can have it within a week, yeah.

BUCKLEY: Okay.

SMITH: I think this coming week we would have it, I worked with them last week, but Ididnt do, I dont think it was them, it was me. I didnt do all the follow-up.

BUCKLEY: Well, I think for us to do our due-diligence, we need that information for thishearing.

TAYLOR: Absolutely, without that information, it


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BUCKLEY: Right, yeah.

SMITH: And they have quite a bit of database.

BUCKLEY: Right, and so we need to, we will need to get that to, um

HOUSTON: Yeah, and well need that just for reasons, this is why were doing this.

BUCKLEY: But we need it yeah

HOUSTON: This is why were looking at this

BUCKLEY: It makes sense, yes, we need that.

SMITH: And it will probably be site specific.

BUCKLEY: And it also might help us in determining some of the issues that are creating

that are site-specific that we can see what happened on that particular site and what theissue there couldve contributed to that, you know, to that issue, to that situation whether they dont have proper training area, whether theyre getting their access to theroadways is not sufficient or hampered. Anyway, okay.

HOUSTON: I can tell you that at one point, if I can find it, Chief DiPino did tell the Mayorand City Council at one point that, she gave a percent-, that scooter-related collisionswere up 46% from this year to the previous year.

BUCKLEY: Really.

TAYLOR: Yeah, but what is the number?

HOUSTON: Well, I know. We need to find that, we need that data.

TAYLOR: We dont do percents, I mean, thats four more than last year?

HOUSTON: Right, we need the data but, thats one of their

BUCKLEY: Right.

HOUSTON: the reasons for looking at this.

MILLER: They want to bring it forward, they want everybody to look at it, right? Police?

HOUSTON: Im sorry?

MILLER: Their interest is to get this somewhat more defined?

HOUSTON: Yeah!

MILLER: Okay.


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HOUSTON: Yeah, definitely. So Ive done some research on, Ive tried to find someother communities that are addressing this issue, and Ive been able to find some codesand some ordinances from various places, Key West, Virginia Beach, a couple of placesin Florida, so Ive looked at some of the issues that they address, some of theapplication procedures, the information that they require from people who are applyingfor these sorts of things, and Ill just run down a list for you. I gave you a copy of what

Im going to talk about, it has introduction here at the top.

BUCKLEY: Can I ask you one quest-, well, Ill wait for your information and then well

HOUSTON: Okay, okay. First of all, down under #7, regulatory issues is what Im goingto go through

BUCKLEY: Right.

HOUSTON: Do you have that?

BUCKLEY: Um hm.

HOUSTON: Um, Im kind of looking at this, the codification of it, the same way that wedid dry nightclubs and the sexually-oriented businesses where the zoning code will setforth, you know, where you can do it and what the process is, and then a lot of theregulations will go into the business license section. It has a lot of the detail, but, youllwant to make recommendations on, you know, whatever issues that you, that youreconcerned with, even though they may not go into the zoning code, its still part of thebig picture.

BUCKLEY: Right.

HOUSTON: Um, theres still one thing you need to talk about is what districts do you

want to allow them in probably the LC-1 and the Shopping Center Districts. Maybe theR-3 if youre looking at it as an accessory use, you know, to a hotel possibly orsomething along those lines, but we want to take a look at districts. Blaine alreadytouched on it; is it a permitted use, would it be an accessory use, would it be a specialexception, would it be a conditional use. I think the Mayor and City Council probably arelooking for a conditional use. And its probably, as Blaine said, it gives you a little more,as Planning Commission, gives you input, lets you look at the big picture, and also goesto the Mayor and City Council for a final approval, so its a more thorough, um

BUCKLEY: Its a thorough, and its

HOUSTON: review process.

BUCKLEY: Exactly, itll

HOUSTON: Definitely, and it is very similar to the water-related uses.

BUCKLEY: Right.


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HOUSTON: So some other issues to think about that Ive come across, businesslicense application procedures, some of these youre not going to really want to get inmuch detail, but these are things that were going to have to fuss out at some point.Insurance requirements, every ordinance I looked at had insurance requirements for

these businesses, both to protect them, to protect their rentals and to protect the City,you know, being on public streets, or public properties. They all require training andtesting of the renter by the business, both in how the machine operates the rules of theroad, most of them require, you know, they have a whole list, they require the signatureof the renter or guardian if the person is under a certain age. Almost all of them require,they can only rent to someone that has a valid drivers license, so youre talking at leastsomeone over 16 or older. Thats usually the requirement. Something we probablyneed to think about is hours of operation, you know, do we allow them out at night or not,most people dont, most places do not. Approved riding locations obviously there areplaces, you know, the Boardwalk, you know, places like that where it would beprohibited. A lot of this probably comes in with state regulations, as far as do they stayin the bus line or are they allowed to go in travel lanes, but I think if we spell all that stuff

out upfront then everybody knows what the rules are. Storage of vehicles when thebusiness is closed do we see a need to require them to be stored inside or is outsideokay, or is it an issue at all. Thats a consideration. Parking the vehicles on publicstreets not so much the rider who may be out, you know, hell park in a parking placelike anyone else does. But, as far as display, weve seen that in a couple locations intown where the business owner will display seven or eight of these vehicles in a parkingspace out on the street, especially where its not a metered space. And, you know, isthat something that needs to be regulated or at least looked at? Requirements for thecustomers to park well address that in the zoning code as Blaine said. Training areas

I think thats probably the biggest one. Do we prohibit training on public property, youknow, public streets Somerset Street, 2nd Street, whatever it might be. Do we requirea training area on private property thats only used by that business, for example as

you saw many shopping centers, do we want them training in a parking lot where usersof other businesses are using that parking area, whether it be parking spaces,driveways, you know, back-up aisles, that kind of thing. So what kind of training area doyou want to require? If you think of the outdoor display regulations, do we wantbusiness transactions to take place inside a building? Thats kind of always been ourstandard, you know, do we want to address that issue. The fueling, again, as the FireMarshal one thing I found interesting, a lot of places require the vehicles to beidentified as some way as belonging to a certain business. Some even go so far asrequiring an identifiable color helmet for each business, like Joes Bikes has bluehelmets, and Toms Bikes has red helmets, I guess so the police or anyone whosenforcing any of the issues knows who the responsible business person is, thatssomething Ive seen in several of the ordinances. State regulations, and we do need to

get a little more information about this, because the police department is cognizant of thestate regulations regarding mufflers, speed limits, and those kind of things. And we doneed to make sure all of thats included. Testing of the vehicles you know weve had,or the Citys had some issues with the size of these, you know, 50 ccs is supposed to bethe maximum and theres discussions as to whether some are bigger, you know, or morepowerful than that, so do we want to require annual or random testing of the vehicles tobe sure that they do meet, come within the limitations of the sizes. Finally, and I thinkthis is kind of important, how are we going to treat non-conformities, or pre-existing, oralready existing businesses, you know, if you do, if and when the Mayor and City


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Council pass regulations that some of the existing businesses may not be able to existunder these new regulations non-conformity or amortization, you know, obviously isgoing to be something that needs to be discussed. You know, do you give them, youknow, a year or something like that, to operate as they been and then knowing that thefollowing year they have to find an appropriate location or at least ramp up their businesspractices to meet the new requirements.

BUCKLEY: Theyre only given one year licenses, business licenses, correct?

HOUSTON: Yeah, theyre given a license from year to year, but some of them may, youknow, have leases and things like that so

BUCKLEY: Right, just asking.

MILLER: Its a significant investment too.

HOUSTON: Yeah, its a discussion that has to be

BUCKLEY: Has to be taken up.

HOUSTON: that we have to make, and come up with a fair, you know, solution tothat.

BUCKLEY: Okay, um.

HOUSTON: So theres a lot of things to consider, to be discussed, and as I said before,I dont know whether you want, obviously you want to hear from the audience

BUCKLEY: Right.

HOUSTON: or, whether you want to have a deliberation some other time, or how youwant to do that.

BUCKLEY: Um, well because were going to be waiting for the Ocean City PoliceDepartments data, we would be deliberating at another date.

HOUSTON: Right.

BUCKLEY: Once that comes in, the one question you were looking at the othercommunities?

HOUSTON: Um hm.

BUCKLEY: What types of roadways were they, I mean, did they have 8-lanes of traffic?

HOUSTON: Um, well, lets see, Im familiar with Key West and they dont

BUCKLEY: City buses? Of our size?


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HOUSTON: Some places, um, and you sort of have to know the terminology of thelocal, the local terminology, but some places do not allow them to be in their touristzone, which you would think would be a congested area, downtown so to speak, andthat kind of thing, so they do, some of them do say you can go here, you cant go there.

I dont remember seeing any that had any sort of reference to a speed limit on a street orfour lanes or anything like that.

BUCKLEY: Whats, whats, I havent been to Myrtle Beach since I was in high school, sothats been a few years. You go down there to golf, right? What is their main drag like?

HOUSTON: Well, its, theyve got bypasses, but they do have an old downtown thatsquite a bit like ours.

BUCKLEY: Thats what I remember.

HOUSTON: Right, right, right.

BUCKLEY: Is it 8-lanes now?

HOUSTON: I dont think so.

BUCKLEY: With these types of buses?

HOUSTON: No, its like Baltimore Avenue I think.

BUCKLEY: Okay.

MILLER: Virginia Beach

HOUSTON: And Virginia Beach is like that too.

MILLER: but its not

BUCKLEY: But its not Coastal Highway, right?

HOUSTON: Right, right. Im not

BUCKLEY: Thats of interest to me as any of it, were putting um

HOUSTON: Yeah. I cant picture any that have a Coastal Highway

BUCKLEY: Yeah, exactly.

HOUSTON: like we do.

BUCKLEY: Okay, I was curious.

HOUSTON: Key West sort of has a loop around the side.


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BUCKLEY: Yeah, uh huh.

HOUSTON: But, I know theyre all theyre all

STALEY: Six lanes, I think.

HOUSTON: theyre all over that, so.

BUCKLEY: Okay. Alright, does the staff, does the Commission have any questions ofMr. Houston at this time?

MILLER: Not at this time, but I can bring him back though I think for a lot of stuff later.

HOUSTON: Oh yeah, definitely.

BUCKLEY: Oh yeah, we rebut him all day long. Okay, now Id like to open up the publichearing to comments from the audience, from those in attendance, anybody for oragainst please step up and Mr. Gregory will swear you in and well get your name and

address. (pause, waiting for response) Well, thats going to be quick, alright!

SHANAHAN: I think it would be helpful for anybody who has a scooter business tocome up and say how can we make this better.

BUCKLEY: Ifd you like to step right over here thatll be great, that way we can all seeyou and listen.

GREGORY: Sir, if you could raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, thewhole truth and nothing but the truth?

WARD: Yes, sir.

GREGORY: Can you state your name and address please?

WARD: Shane Ward. I own a bicycle rental shop which really doesnt have too much todo with these scooters. Its on #7 Somerset Street.

BUCKLEY: Um hm.

WARD: Just listening to some of this stuff that youre saying. How does our bicyclebusiness stay the same licenses these motor scooters go under? I dont, I kind of dontunderstand it. I mean, will that affect us, to say if I wanted to open up a

BUCKLEY: No, no sir, not at all. The only thing it will affect, were talking aboutmotorized vehicles.

MILLER: Were looking at them differently than bicycles.

WARD: Okay, that was my main question.

BUCKLEY: Were trying to separate the two.


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WARD: Right, but say if I wanted to open up a scooter shop as to where you all theselicenses set up, does that waive me the right to be able to open up one if they do makethese decisions, or where I already have the license can I be in effect with that, howdoes that work?

BUCKLEY: You would be under the new ordinance, the new guidelines if you opened

up a scooter shop.

WARD: Okay, even though I already have the same license that theyre operating underright now?

BUCKLEY: If youve got a bicycle license, and we are here tonight to deliberate, getpublic input to decide how we are now going to license the scooters, so it will be adifferent license.

STALEY: Motorized.

BUCKLEY: Motorized type of license, after the fact, after our deliberations and then the

Council will make their decision. But well be, we all have a business license if youoperate in Ocean City, but it will be a different thing, a criterion, of expectations andguidelines

WARD: Right.

BUCKLEY: for a motorized.

WARD: One other question. I was looking at some of the pictures he was showing onthere. I know we have easement rights where we have to pay an extra fee to use thestreets

BUCKLEY: Right.

WARD: do any of these people in these pictures here pay that extra easement fee? Imean, I see a lot of pictures where theyre setting in the streets, actually on thesidewalks and everywhere else

MILLER: Ask Blaine that question.

BUCKLEY: That would be why I think were here tonight because I think weve got somediscrepancies in that some ways that the engineering department was giving access tothings, but other times theyre just using it, so.

WARD: Right, for instance, the one picture you see on Somerset Street that showed theother bicycle shop that really doesnt have anything to do with scooters, but while Imhere Im going to ask. Is there any kind of law that states you cannot store all that on afront deck like that? Does it have to be inside a building, or is that

BUCKLEY: What, the bicycles?

WARD: Yes, maam.


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BUCKLEY: I dont think so.

UNIDENTIFIED BACKGROUND VOICE: Youre talking about displays, you mean?

WARD: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Theres supposed to be a law where you cant actuallyleave displays. My grandfather had a bicycle rental shop on 26th Street for thirty-some

years. And we had to put everything that we had, we could not leave anything on aporch, or anything on a street like that. We had to put it inside a building itself, youknow, where it does not stay.

BUCKLEY: Right.

WARD: Well, the one fellow has the one shop has all his stuff piled actually sittingoutside on the street, you know, a public street, and also on a deck. Is that

BUCKLEY: HMM

WARD: something thats supposed to be in effect?

MILLER: Ask Blaine that question.

WARD: Yeah, maybe you can address this to me, or explain to

SMITH: Yeah, there are some variations. Some of the bicycles are allowed by right andwe dont have a limitation as to how we store them, and some others have gone to theBoard of Zoning Appeal and they put conditions of approval, they would be stored insidewhen not in use. An example would be on the Boardwalk, the Lankford Building?

BUCKLEY: Um hm.

SMITH: They have to be put inside, and I think they put them back underneath thebuilding, and theyve got like 100 bikes that they were given a permit to do, whereas ifyou take the Eden Roc, theyve got a lot, and they store them outside and the Board letthem do that. So some of them have been given variable type permit to, in theiroperation, based on their location or what-have-you. The other thing I think forclarification, Jesse might have to correct me on this, when they did the moratorium, that,and I think this gentleman, when he asked the question whether or not he would qualifyfor a license or not, it was that I could not, or the license people could not do anymorerenewals and/or new license until after the moratorium. To say that, there are existinglicense in play that are valid through, I think, July 1, or June June 1 or July 1.

HOUSTON: I think they all renew in May.

SMITH: Yeah. So June 1 would be, everybody would be cut off at June 1 depending onwhat happens with this, but between now and June 1, those that have license cancontinue to operate as they did, but no new renewal or no new license can be issueduring that moratorium.

BUCKLEY: Okay, anyone else? Yes, sir, please step up to the podium.

MONTGOMERY: My names Carl Montgomery.


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GREGORY: Please raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the wholetruth, and nothing but the truth?

MONTGOMERY: Sure, why not. I was wondering, the safety, and road-testing

BUCKLEY: Please state your name and address for the record, please.

MONTGOMERY: Carl Montgomery, I live off of, on Sea Captain Road, in Caine Woods.

BUCKLEY: Okay.

MONTGOMERY: Im thinking about starting a scooter business, and then all of asudden, boom, I see this (chuckle) youll stopped them for 90 days. And I said(indistinguishable) anyway, Im past all that. You say youre going to have road-testingand what-not for safety regulations, this is what your issues are going to be?

BUCKLEY: Were looking at all those items.

MONTGOMERY: Okay, well, you know, a lot of these places dont have room to do this,dont have parking lots to do this, I mean, theyre displaying them on the sidewalks. Howare they going to have something like that unless they can do it on a side street or, youknow, something like that?

BUCKLEY: Well, were just going to take a look at all the information, all the data, andwere going to wait for the Police Departments um

MONTGOMERY: Well, I mean, theres no room in Ocean City, everybodys used it allup for businesses. I mean, where you going to run a road-test?

BUCKLEY: Right, well, were going to see, were going to take a look at it all andhopefully make it all work out.

MONTGOMERY: Alright, thank you.

BUCKLEY: Youre welcome, thank you. Does anyone else have a comment? Yes, sir.

GREGORY: Sir, can you raise your right hand please? Do you swear to tell the truth,the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

GJIKURIA: Yes.

GREGORY: Can you state your name and address, please?

GJIKURIA: (Mr. Gjikuria has a strong Greek accent and pattern to his speech) Myname is Peter Gjikuria, I live in 12943 Windy Drive, in Ocean City. Im glad you guysbrought this item up, I own the store Fun Cycle on 26th Street and the safety is the mainconcern for us. We try to do our best to make the customers happy and to have lessaccidents every year. Everything you guys discussed here makes sense and I agreepretty much with most of them, almost everything. Every store is supposed to have likea training area something like 360 degrees or you have to train somebody to use a


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scooter because you put him on the road and possibility of accidents happens. So thatbe very nice if somebody has, um, I used to have a parking lot with gravel, and it wasvery difficult to train people so I put pavement. I mean, Im not saying everybody shouldput pavement, but its a nice acquirement to have. To display the scooters usuallyoutside, most of the places, they put them on the sidewalk, which is not nice. I have alittle bit parking lot, but Ray comes every time and tells me no more than three or four,

sometimes I put four. But usually he tells me to put three, so, I have to keep it the sameamount. A few of the properties rent from the parking lot, its a nice store to have anoffice and people come to the office and rent it and explain the rules. The one thing youguys didnt mention is that every store to have like a video monitor and CD to play thereso they can explain the rules, where to go or not to go, and actually two years ago Italked to Chief DiPino about it and I asked her to send an officer, somebody, and I cando the video, and she told me she going to talk to the relation people there because theydo the videos.

BUCKLEY: Right.

GJIKURIA: But, havent happened yet, so its been three years, but its nice to have a

TV and video playing so everybody can see it. With the parking requirement of parking,I have no idea how many parkings required to have for scooters, so, I dont want to gothrough those details because I dont know. Usually all the time we rent scooters, we tellthe renters to go in the bus line, or the further right line, and not to cross any bridge andnot to cross 142nd Street, to go to Delaware. Sometime even my scooters happen, theycross the bridge, but we have it on the paper, on the contract, and we tell them verballynot to cross. Soon as they cross, the police go give them a ticket so, thats nice to haveit like that.

BUCKLEY: Right.

GJIKURIA: Like they passed the law for the helmets and, theres a lot of people didnt

wear the helmets, but they got a $25.00 ticket. To store the scooters, the scootersshould supposed to be stored inside, not leave them outside, cover up. Thank you forthe time to make the scooter safety, and its a lot of stores who dont have theserequirements; whats going to happen to those stores I dont know, but its nice to putsome regulations.

BUCKLEY: Thank you.

GJIKURIA: Thank you.

BUCKLEY: And, we have a couple questions for you, Mr. Miller?

MILLER: A training area. How big of a training area would you, do you use? Like, is it,20 x 50 or

GJIKURIA: Um, I didnt prepare for the measurements, but if you see my store there,the picture where you see the lot of scooters; my parking lot has two sides to park, butwhat I did, I put all on one side cars to park for (indistinguishable) but the other side I leftthat, since I have extra parking. Yeah, this area here, that one. You see? So I havecars over on that side, this side I use for the scooters.


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MILLER: When youre, Im just saying, when youre training, youre teaching them howto turn, to stop, to go, I mean

GJIKURIA: We teach them how to make couple turns, around turns, not straight,straight everybody can go. You have to make a turn.

MILLER: So can you do that in a 20 x 20 or, 20 x 30 or

BUCKLEY: Like two parking spaces, three parking spaces?

GJIKURIA: I think to make a nice turn

MILLER: Im not going to hold you to it, Im just asking

BUCKLEY: Just an idea.

GJIKURIA: Yeah.

BUCKLEY: Because we know that a parking space is like 10 x 20, so.

GJIKURIA: Uh, to make a nice turn, somebody whos experienced can make a turn intwo parking, but somebody whos not experienced going to need three or four

BUCKLEY: Okay.

GJIKURIA: because its very hard with the scooter, because you have a low speed.

MILLER: So 20 x 30, 20 x 40 is a nice area where you can teach people in.

GJIKURIA: Uh, I cannot say that; I dont know.

MILLER: Somewhere between two and four parking spaces

GJIKURIA: Yes, something like this, probably, yes.

MILLER: Okay, that was the question

BUCKLEY: Thats fair.

MILLER: then, the cust-, you have a busy location, when people come up, like 5 kidsin a car, or is it at lot of walk-ups, or what kind of traffic?

GJIKURIA: Usually we have a lot of people whove been going up and down, driving,and they see the scooter stores, and they stop, we give them a permit for their car topark, and then they take a scooter. So in one car there might be two or three. Usuallywe dont allow to rent to a parent with a kid under seven year old to put them on ascooter. We have the scoot-coupe, so we put them, we give them the three-wheeler forkids. We dont allow under 7 year old to go on the scooter. Now when they rent it, theygo to the hotel and pick up the kid, its out of our view.

SHANAHAN: Whats the oldest, or youngest individual youll rent to?


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GJIKURIA: Usually we hold to they have to be 18 years old, with a drivers license; if itsa 16 and has a drivers license and a parent come, and the parent signs, they providethe waiver, so, he can rent it.

SHANAHAN: Now is that required by your insurance or is that just your policy?

GJIKURIA: No, thats my policy, I have that.

MILLER: Now what are your thoughts on the over 50 cc units that are out there?

GJIKURIA: For over 50 cc, theyre not supposed to be there.

MILLER: Theyre not supposed to be there.

GJIKURIA: Theyre not supposed to be there, because in the State of Maryland, under50 cc considered like a scooter, no license for motorcycle, no tags, no insurance, butactually this year theres a bill there to put tags and registration for the scooters. I can

tell you the Bill #.

MILLER: Maryland.

GJIKURIA: Last year, last year it didnt pass. They have the same Bill, its #149 at theHouse and #309 at the Senate. Last year they put the bill again, but didnt pass it, to putthe 50 cc, so they have them again this year, I dont think its going to pass.

BUCKLEY: Who knows?

GJIKURIA: Who knows, but there is a bill there to, for the scooters.

SHANAHAN: Peter how many reportable accidents did your company have this year?

GJIKURIA: Um, a few, I dont have a number exactly, but we have a few.

SHANAHAN: Do you think its more than last year?

GJIKURIA: I cant say that. But I deal with the Police Commissioner a couple times,and over there they have, each store, has the accidents and what happened andeverything, so its very nice to see which store, how many one store has, like you say,different color for helmet, I mean, everybody that has the scooters, I know what theyhave, I know color he has, and he knows what I have, so pretty much we know, and plusthe scooter has a tag in the back which says the store and everything. But the Police,

the Police Commission, theyre more concerned about the scoot-coupes for accidents,but thank God the scoot-coupes have zero accidents, so its nice for the City Hall and(indistinguishable) to pass the law for us to use the scoot-coupes, theres zero accidents,which is very good.

BUCKLEY: Really? Wow.

MILLER: But can you throttle these down to where they dont go above 40?


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GJIKURIA: Usually the scooter is made to go by law 30 miles, if you are little, theyll go35, so

MILLER: I see some going by a lot faster it seems like.

GJIKURIA: Some time they have a trick to fix it or something, but not the rentals. The

ones that go fast

MILLER: Theyre the private.

GJIKURIA: its a lot of things they do, little detail here, two miles, three miles there,they can do that, but not the rentals. We dont want people on the rentals to go fastbecause its, accidents happen, so

SHANAHAN: Would you support some regulations to tone them down, with some typeof governor that really kept them safe, 20 miles an hour, and would they still bemarketable, if they didnt go that fast?

GJIKURIA: On the highway, 20 miles per hour, when the speed limit is 30-35, is a nicespeed I think, by putting them down is going to create more problems because the busesare going to pass them. Its going to be more problems to have it. The way the scootersmake 30 miles per hour, 35, its nice for our roads. Our roads

SHANAHAN: So you think its better if they keep up with the traffic.

BUCKLEY: Yeah.

GJIKURIA: Yeah, to keep up, because even the bus line (indistinguishable), so theycannot wait behind, like

MILLER: Like behind a scooter.

GJIKURIA: Like a scooter, or a bike. Sometime we see a bike, and its going slow, andits going to take you forever to turn, so the scooter has to keep with the traffic, and at30-35 miles per hour, its nice, its no problem. But

SHANAHAN: They dont seem to like to go single-file, so theyre all side-by-side, so iftheyre doing 20, that would be a problem.

GJIKURIA: Yep.

MILLER: That comes from you guys training them, dont ride all the way across the

street too.

GJIKURIA: Of course, but the kids, sometimes to be honest, I call the police on myscooters. I have a senior week like 8 guys, and somebody calls and says Peter, yourscooters rode all over the place, I call them and say my scooters is on that street andthey catch them, but, after they leave the store

MILLER: Theyre subject to the


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GJIKURIA: they are, they are, but thats good, because the police can enforce the lawand give some revenues, if taxes are down, they can make some money, so

COMMISSIONERS: (laughing in unison)

BUCKLEY: Okay.

MILLER: Thank you very much.

SHANAHAN: What do you think is the biggest problem right now with the scooters,while were here, in your opinion?

GJIKURIA: The bigger problem I see is the accidents happen from the people who hasno training. How you going to give a scooter to somebody and you dont train him? Youhave to train before you give a scooter and the time doesnt start from the time he signthe paper; in my store the time start when he leave the parking lot, so delegate theperson there, the guide, to teach them try. And I have a camera system, so Im, werewatching everything, so if we dont feel comfortable making couple turns in the parking

lot, we dont let them go out, and (indistinguishable) we dont let them go out. So thetraining is the most important thing. So a lot of stores are using the street, the street istough for scooters to teach people, to train, so you have to have a parking lot.

BUCKLEY: Right. Okay. Anything else?

MILLER: Thank you.

BUCKLEY: Thank you so much, we appreciate your time. Yes, sir.

GREGORY: Raise your right hand please. Do you swear to tell the truth, the wholetruth, and nothing but the truth?

CROSARIOL: I do.

GREGORY: Please state your name and address.

CROSARIOL: My name is Sean Crosariol. I represent Waterways Marina. I guesswhat I just want to say is safety is a big one for us too, and this past year we workedvery closely with Jan Jones, Im sure you all are very familiar with, TransportationOfficer, and Doug Smith. We took it upon ourselves to basically show them thebreakdown of how to spot the motors, like what to look for whats a 150, whats 50,whats 2-stroke, whats 4-stroke, just tried to educate them. We got them out with StatePolice, ICE, everybody. Brought them all in and tried to show them the ins and outs, just

kinda little spot-check things, because theyre very different, they might look similar, verydifferent. And there obviously, 150s are a lot more powerful.

BUCKLEY: Right.

CROSARIOL: And people want them, they go faster, wed love to have them, it wouldbe nice, but it creates a safety issue.

BUCKLEY: Right.


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CROSARIOL: And I guess our problem this year was, when the scoot-coupes came in,because if you go to any one of these rental operators that have them right now, and Imgoing to take, I dont know the gentleman at Cycle City, but its, to my knowledge, theones Ive seen of his, are the only 50 cc scoot-coupes, in existence, in this town. Theother ones, the other rental operators, Ill just leave nameless but, the other two big ones

all have 150 cc scoot-coupes

BUCKLEY: Really.

CROSARIOL: I mean Id (pause) bet my license right now on it, 150. We tried to showthem ways to spot check it, brought it in front of the City Council, kinda got backhanded,shot down. I guess my question was for this gentleman who, you were looking at KeyWest and how they regulate it? Whats the penalty? You know, if they get caught doingit, whats, how do you, how do you go about, you know, enforcing it? Do you create likean inspection station, do they come, where your city mechanic can take it apart,measure the bore, I mean, I know its very hard, but, how do you regulate it? You know,thats basically what I would like to know

BUCKLEY: Right.

CROSARIOL: because we had a tough time with it this year, it definitely hurt ourbusiness. We were down at one point to $2.00 an hour for scooters, $2.00 and $1.50 anhour, which is a far cry from $25.00 that we were getting before, just to get them out thedoor because we couldnt compete. And I mean, where does it stop there? If you let the150s pass, then you do a special session, you pass these scoot-coupes at 150s, thencan I have a scooter for $150? And then theyre going 65, I mean, a driver on a scoot-coupe is like 450 lbs, you add two adults youre up to another 150-200 lbs a piece, thatslike 800 lbs, doesnt go 45 miles an hour down the bus line, does not. Not with the 4-stroke 50, so again, the gentleman with Cycle City though, I know, Ive seen his are 2-

strokes, and they are 50s, I know.

BUCKLEY: So whats the time frame

ocean city council agenda for march 27, 2012

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