Zoning fights such as the one taking place in Berlin between the developers of a would-be Dollar General on Old Ocean City Boulevard and the town’s Planning Commission, almost always end badly for one party or the other. Although that would seem to be stating the obvious, the issue in such cases is not just… Read more »

The firestorm over an Ocean Pines resident’s application to operate a gun sales business out of his home is now over as the county application for a zoning variance was withdrawn last week. While guns in homes are an emotional trigger for some, the real issue here was whether county and OPA regulations for home-based… Read more »

Oh, to live and budget in the Town of Berlin, which is one of the few places these days where government budgeting it not the jaw-clinching process it has become elsewhere. Locally, both Ocean City and Worcester County governments are staring at dreary revenue forecasts that don’t support all their financial commitments, much less all… Read more »

 Despite the occasional wisecracks and flip observations about Ocean Pines politics, the community does more than most jurisdictions in the region to involve its citizens in the political process. While it’s been observed frequently over the years that the members of various boards of directors haven’t gotten along that well with each other, the only… Read more »

To grow or not to grow, that is the question just about every prosperous community asks itself at one time or another, as residents and officials debate the question of how much success is too much. What makes that question so arguable, as the Berlin Town Council demonstrated Monday, is that there isn’t any clear… Read more »

And that, as they say, is that, which is this case with the Ocean Pines Association budget. After several weeks of quarreling over whether to increase or decrease assessments, which company should manage the golf course and whether General Manager Bob Thompson was out of line when he criticized the board for its golf course… Read more »

Maybe what the Town of Berlin and the Berlin Fire Company need to do is hire a mediator to sort out the conflict between the two. The issue, after all, has gone beyond who is right and who is wrong and has become a matter of how to repair the relationship for the benefit of… Read more »

If the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors were to say to General Manager Bob Thompson, “We’ve got to hand it to you,” the majority might be thinking about his walking papers. That’s certainly how it appears, given the obvious friction between Thompson and some of the directors, a circumstance highlighted during Saturday’s meeting, when… Read more »

The Ocean Pines Board announced this week that there will indeed be a change of management at the golf course this year, with Landscapes Unlimited taking over from Billy Casper Golf. There will certainly be a lot of debate on whether the timing is right to make a change, as Billy Casper Golf supporters have… Read more »

As Ocean Pines looks to the future and, hopefully, tries to determine how much and on what they will need additional member funding for, board members should follow the recent example of the Town of Berlin. Given the opportunity to make a landmark purchase of the old Tysons chicken plant and faced with a decision… Read more »