According to Ocean City's 'The Dispatch', local officials are looking to crack down on automotive events in general, possibly at the expense of local business owners.  To be honest, we all knew this was going to happen eventually, so rather than go into who's fault it is, and what is and isn't "fair", let's just get straight to what we need to look out for.

Possession of alcohol in public-

Ocean City will now be more closely enforcing where you can't drink in the open, adding parking lots to list the places where alcohol cannot be consumed.  Now if you're saying "Isn't that already illegal?" points to you.  It is.  So why the new ordinance?  Ocean City's City Council says that currently this was something largely enforced by property owners rather either giving patrons a nod or asking them to stop, rather than a clearly enforceable law.  Some business owners think the activity is largely harmless, but the new ordinance passed with a 5-2 majority.

Where you can and can't stand-

OCPD will also now enforce distraction of property laws much more closely, thanks to a 5-2 decision that allows ticketing of people standing or sitting on landscaping areas.  For those playing at home, yes, this too is already against the law as it could be considered destruction of private property, depending of course on things like how blatantly the offender is destroying said shrubs and how they act towards an approaching officer.  Still, the seemingly larger effect of this to help curb spectator presence along the Coastal Highway.

You can't park here-

The final ordinance is one that we really aren't all that effected by.  Coming in at a 6-1 majority, the OCPD will now enforce oversized vehicle restrictions more closely, as trailers have been found to be a hinderance on sidewalks and common areas during bike and hot rod weeks.  Again, the vast majority of us actually drive our cars, so this one really isn't that big of a deal.

Now, before we leave you, we'd like to point out two members that voted against both the alcohol and standing ordinances, Matt James and Lloyd Martin.  We've inducted them into our official 'Team Fun' roster, and think it's not a bad idea to spend a little extra cash at their places of business.  If you'd like to do the same, find out a bit more about them on the Ocean City Council page, here .

To get the full rundown on each new ordinance click here.