OCEAN CITY — Boardwalk entertainers may be more limited in where they can perform next summer and pay four times more to do so.
City Council gave initial approval to new rules that would allow all performances between May 1 and Oct. 31 only in two designated zones — Fifth to Eighth streets and 12th to 14th streets — and increase the licensing fee from $50 to $200.
Solicitor Dottie McCrosson said the initial ordinance regulating buskers was put in place in 2017 and the city now has a significant amount of experience on which to base its recommendations.
“We have had many summers with boardwalk entertainers and have gotten a lot of feedback from the public, from council, from merchants, from employees on the boardwalk, and taken that all into consideration,” she told City Council on Jan. 11.
Keeping the entertainers away from the area between Eighth and 12th streets would help ease congestion in the most crowded part of the boardwalk and also separate the buskers from the city-hired performers.
“The primary concern is the safety of pedestrians,” McCrosson said.
Performers will be permitted within 4 feet of the oceanfront railing at the street ends of Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, 12th, 13th and 14th streets, as well as next to the mid-block pavilions at Fifth, Eighth, 12th and 14th streets and within 4 feet of the bayside railing between Fifth and Sixth streets.
Entertainers must apply for a permit, which includes the fee that covers as many as four band members, the maximum number allowed.
They may perform from 7 to 10 p.m. only at their designated spot, with no amplifiers, and must display their badge at all times while performing.
During public comment, Sheila Hartrantf said the fee increase is too high.
“I like buskers; they break up the monotony and make you feel good about going there,” she said. “I just don’t think, especially young people who decide to do something positive with their time, if they have the ambition to pick up a guitar and go up on the boardwalk and entertain a few people, I don’t think they should be punished.”
She said the fee should be minimal so as not to punish the performers.
“You’re making it almost impossible for them to go up there and do that,” Hartrantf said. “Please reconsider.”
Council Vice President Karen Bergman said “what we did in 2017 was experimental” and “I’m happy to move this forward.”
“I think it’s going to make a lot of the business owners happy. I don’t think it’s punishing any of the performers, it’s just moving them to a different place,” Councilman Tony Polcinci said.
Councilman Terry Crowley pointed out the city has costs associated with licensing, placing and policing the buskers.
“I think it’s fair to the city to raise the fee and manage this process a little more refined than we have in the past,” he said. “It will be beneficial for boardwalk merchants and also beneficial for the tourists and the performers as well. I think it’s an all-around win.”
City Council is expected to hold a final vote on the ordinance during its next meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. Jan 25.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff