Ocean City electric vehicle rental business gets final denial | News

Gentle Riders owners will have to wait around 12 months to submit new program

Despite a past-ditch effort and hard work to obtain a required conditional use approval, Segway and scooter rentals will not be out there this summer months at a new electric car or truck rental store on the bayside downtown.

Alicia Jenkins, the co-owner of Mild Riders on 22nd Avenue, pleaded with City Council users at a conference on June 21 to enable her have just one much more crack at getting an approval to enable rentals at her store.

She and her husband and fellow retail outlet co-owner, Robert Jenkins, asked the council at a June 6 assembly for a conditional use acceptance to hire Segways, mopeds, scooters and slingshots (3-wheel scooters) to travellers and residents.

The couple’s initial small business system, which council customers expressed worries about and eventually failed to take action on, known as for rentals of Segways to be ridden by way of guided excursions on the Boardwalk, as perfectly as rentals of scooters, mopeds and slingshots to be ridden all-around town. The choices had been to be portion of the retail keep, which opened for business past 7 days.

Immediately after listening to demanding criticism from council customers above several logistical details on June 6, Jenkins dealt with them again during the general public comment time period of the June 21 meeting. She claimed she and her husband improved their business program, and requested council users to allow them to officially existing the facts at an future assembly.

“After our meeting, we’ve taken all of your issues into thing to consider in regards to our enterprise program and I believe that we have come up with a strategy for our company to run safely and securely in Ocean Town, Maryland, and to develop into a terrific asset to this city,” Jenkins stated. “ … We are additional than inclined to negotiate to appear up with the greatest way to solution and to bring electrical transportable mobility to Ocean Metropolis.”

It seemed as nevertheless Jenkins was bewildered about the approach, even though, as City Solicitor Heather Stansbury reported council users have no say in excess of the program now. She explained that by failing to take motion on the matter at the June 6 assembly — there was a motion but no next to advance the approval — council associates proficiently denied the request.

From there, in accordance to the city’s code, the Jenkins’ need to hold out a calendar year and post the request all over again. As a outcome, Light Rivers will not be allowed to rent autos this summer season.

“I do not see a mechanism for reconsideration of this at this time,” Stansbury claimed during the assembly.

As Jenkins pleaded her scenario final week, even though, Councilman Mark Paddack tried using to enable her.

Immediately after listening to Jenkins describe the small business approach adjustments, which incorporated no more time allowing rentals of slingshots or mopeds and partnering with a close by hotel to let for parking and fall-off of Segways for the Boardwalk tours, Paddack mentioned he assumed the system was substantially different and attempted to persuade workers users to give it a different search.

“I’m keen to have this reviewed by, and ship it back to, planning and neighborhood growth and have workers sit down and have them make a specialist [decision]. It is a considerably far better approach than what you arrived listed here with,” he said.

Paddack manufactured a motion to that influence but ended up withdrawing it when he realized it was not needed. Stansbury stated the Jenkinses can go again to preparing team on their possess and question for them to overview the strategy yet again. Nevertheless, they are unable to do so for at minimum 12 months.

This tale appears in the July 1, 2022 print edition of the OC Right now.