By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

Marina Village in Ocean Pines may restrict short-term rentals if it can secure an adequate number of voters to approve a change in its rules.

In an open meeting last week, Marina Village Townhome Association’s board of directors discussed an amendment to its community rules. Marina Village is run by an association as does the Ocean Pines Association.

According to David Volrath, a Marina Village Townhome Association board member, the 25-year-old community needed to refresh its guidelines and bylaws, as many of the regulations were outdated, no longer applicable, or, in many cases, no longer accurate to the neighborhood today.

To resolve those issues, Volrath said he had created a work group to review the old documents. Once its work was completed, the the group returned to the board with 50 potential adjustments to the governing documents.

Of those, 24 were compiled into an amendment that requires association members’ approval to push through.

At the association’s annual meeting last weekend, however, there was not enough community participation for a valid vote to occur, Volrath said. The board is now looking to attract enough voters to establish support or opposition to the proposed changes.

Restricting short-term rentals to a minimum of 14 days was listed as an item on the amendment for approval. Volrath said this recommendation was based on the high volume of violations committed by people staying in a unit for a limited period.

“In terms of nuisance violations, that’s why we’re doing this,” the board member said. “There are issues with noise, respect to neighbors, trash compliance, imposing on the marina down the street, and pet management.

Volrath said that two weeks had been decided as the magic number to meet residents on both sides of the debate in the middle, despite some claiming that the board “plucked it out of the air.”

“We actually surveyed the board and people randomly,” Volrath said. “We found that there were people who didn’t want any rentals here, period. Then there were those folks, the rental folks, who didn’t want any limits on short-term rentals. On one extreme, they’re saying no one can rent at all, and on the other extreme, they’re saying go ahead and rent your house out 365 days a year, like it’s a hotel room. From those extremes, we worked to the middle.”

The board considered everything from a 30-day minimum to a seven-day minimum before landing on two weeks. Volrath added that the goal with the proposed restrictions is to ensure property values do not diminish, as some argue happens with an influx of quick stopovers, and to protect the quality of life for full-time residents.

“The shorter the term, the less likely the renters are going to care about you,” the board member said. “The shorter the term, the more frequent the turnover, and the more frequent the turnover, the more likely people won’t know the rules, or break them. To me, that’s common sense.”

However, those that rent out their property claim that setting a limit on short-term rentals can throw a wrench into their income.

An Ocean Pines resident, Megan Mardiney, responded to a Facebook post by fellow OPA homeowner Amy Peck, soliciting discussions about the validity of short-term rentals.

Mardiney argued that short-term rental restrictions will not solve issues with violations and complaints, but would instead harm property owners.

“People behave badly, whether full-time resident or guest,” she writes. “We have wonderful guests who rent our house each summer. We could not afford to keep it without that income. Funny enough, they have complained about our neighbor’s noise, who is full-time.”

While the short-term rental issue is contentious, Marina Village’s proposed rule-modification amendment includes 23 additional action items. However, as these mainly include verbiage clarifications and language changes, they have not received the same level of attention from community residents.

At least 50 owners must submit a ballot for a final decision to be made, which they did not reach last week. The board is now seeking ways to reorganize a vote without corrupting the process, Volrath said.