March 26, 2016
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO//CITY-DATA.com
Ocean City has made it to the Final Four in best beaches.
It’s still OK to send in the clowns — and jugglers, musicians and even mimes — on Ocean City’s family-oriented Boardwalk.
Thank the First Amendment and teenaged performers from the resort for the reprieve.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian had an ordinance yanked that would have tightly regulated Boardwalk performers.
Gillian, whose family runs an amusement pier on the Boardwalk, plans that classic government tactic: He’s forming a committee. The committee — street performers, Boardwalk merchants and police — would make suggestions.
The mayor told the OCNJ Daily he’s not sure how long the process will take or if regulations will be in place by this summer.
The mayor had talked of confining street performers to a wider and less commercial portions of the Boardwalk, between Fifth and Sixth streets, to avoid congestion.
The regulation that was shelved also called for confining performers near the railing facing the beach and imposed a $50 licensing fee.
The ordinance would also restrict hours and the noise levels, as well as setting up additional entertainment zones in the city.
Hank Glaser, a sweet shop owner who represented the Boardwalk Merchants Association, had pressed for regulations now to assure the Boardwalk’s reputation as a “well-behaved place.”
To read the entire OCNJ account, click here.
