Ocean City extends beach, boardwalk closures

OCEAN CITY, Md. – The beach and boardwalk in Ocean City will now remain closed until May 15th. In addition, short term rentals will now remain closed until May 22nd. Previously, both were restricted until April 30th.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, the city manager also presented ideas about how Ocean City can move forward once things start to reopen. The city manager says staffing will be a major issue and the best case scenario for Ocean City is that J-1 students start to arrive by June. Meanwhile, the hospitality industry is looking at staggering the openings of hotels and restaurants. The bad news for bars is that the city manager doesn’t believe they’ll open until mid to late summer, if at all.

The city manager says in the memorandum presented at the council meeting, “Based on what we know and admittedly based on what we hope for there to be a Season in 2020 even if different from what we have known in the past.”

The tram service will operate without any social distancing requirements so riders will use it at their own risk but face masks will be required on public transit buses. As for conventions, Ocean City doesn’t plan to host any conventions until July.