The Berlin, Maryland, Town Council decided to move forward on its short-term rental ordinance as planned, despite a nonresident property owner's warning that the new rule, if passed now, could have serious financial fallout. The owner explained via letter that she was nearing retirement and that the short-term rental is a retirement home in waiting for her; however, the new ordinance will complicate her ability to maintain the income necessary to sustain that trajectory. Councilmember Jack Orris' campaign to push the measure's start date back to the day after Labor Day was not seconded, so the ordinance's July 1 implementation held. The ordinance is intended to protect the quality of life in Berlin by restricting the degree to which out-of-towners can purchase town property to rent them to vacationers.
Ocean City Today (MD) (06/30/2022) Jack Chavez