OC wants to cap street performers
OCEAN CITY -- Street performers may have to win a lottery this year if they want to legally employ their talents on the Boardwalk.
City Council voted 5-1 to change regulations concerning performer permits and behavior, including one that will drastically limit the number of buskers present on the boardwalk each day. An ordinance enacting the new rules is likely to be debated at upcoming council meetings.
The town will designate 20 areas from the inlet to 10th Street as the only areas performers can operate. Permit holders will have to come to City Hall in the early afternoon each day to put their name in for one of the spaces.
If they're picked, they can perform that day. If they don't draw the right number, they should go home and try again the next day.
Usually, there's many more than 20 street performers working at one time. Last season, the resort issued 555 street performer permits.
Entertainers will now only be able to perform from the end of the lottery until midnight. They are also forbidden from playing music unless it's from an instrument as part of their act, and they are not permitted to use any of their own lighting.
The price for a permit will rise from $7.50 to $10, to cover the administrative fees associated with providing them and the time spent on performer issues during the summer, according to a letter to the council from City Clerk Kathleen Mathias that outlined the recommendation for changes.
Mathias worked with police and other city officials to come up with solutions to some problems and concerns surrounding Boardwalk performances from the 2010 season, the letter said.
Among those concerns were congestion that at times inhibited pedestrians walking on the Boardwalk; complaints from store owners who said performers were blocking their entrances; and reports from emergency services staff who had problems getting performers to move in a hurry.
Police have had escalating issues with performers, according to Chief of Police Bernadette DiPino, who told the council they've gone from six incidents of contact with performers in 2006 to 53 in 2010.
Council member Joseph Hall cast the dissenting vote after telling council he "supported the intent," but had worries that the changes may raise questions about performers' free speech rights.
"I already thought the previous ordinance was pushing the envelope on (performers') personal rights," he said.
City Solicitor Guy Ayres told council he thought the ordinance would be defensible in court.
Mathias believes the changes will also make it easier for the performers to entertain Boardwalk patrons, she said.
"I think this will manage things better, not only by making it easier for police but also for performers who were challenged by competing with each other," she said.
Former performer DJ Walker said the new rules would "definitely" discourage him from taking to the Boardwalk in the future.
Walker, 23, played in a bagpipe and drum duet for a couple years. He said one reason he and his partner enjoyed performing was the ease and ability to make a spur-of-the-moment decision to play on any given night.
"We wouldn't go out every day, just when we felt like making a little extra money," he said. "If we had to go through all the bureaucracy of doing a lottery and planning that much, we just probably wouldn't have bothered."
Jay Knerr, owner of Kite Loft on the Boardwalk at fifth street, agrees with the policy change, and says it should be good for visitors and merchants alike.
Knerr enjoys the street performers, and said they're a necessary element on the Boardwalk, but crowding had been a concern.
"In the past, entertainers or performers were on top of one another," he said. "If this is done where there's a fair playing field for everybody, I'm in support of that."
410-213-9442, ext. 14
City Council voted 5-1 to change regulations concerning performer permits and behavior, including one that will drastically limit the number of buskers present on the boardwalk each day. An ordinance enacting the new rules is likely to be debated at upcoming council meetings.
The town will designate 20 areas from the inlet to 10th Street as the only areas performers can operate. Permit holders will have to come to City Hall in the early afternoon each day to put their name in for one of the spaces.
If they're picked, they can perform that day. If they don't draw the right number, they should go home and try again the next day.
Usually, there's many more than 20 street performers working at one time. Last season, the resort issued 555 street performer permits.
Entertainers will now only be able to perform from the end of the lottery until midnight. They are also forbidden from playing music unless it's from an instrument as part of their act, and they are not permitted to use any of their own lighting.
The price for a permit will rise from $7.50 to $10, to cover the administrative fees associated with providing them and the time spent on performer issues during the summer, according to a letter to the council from City Clerk Kathleen Mathias that outlined the recommendation for changes.
Mathias worked with police and other city officials to come up with solutions to some problems and concerns surrounding Boardwalk performances from the 2010 season, the letter said.
Among those concerns were congestion that at times inhibited pedestrians walking on the Boardwalk; complaints from store owners who said performers were blocking their entrances; and reports from emergency services staff who had problems getting performers to move in a hurry.
Police have had escalating issues with performers, according to Chief of Police Bernadette DiPino, who told the council they've gone from six incidents of contact with performers in 2006 to 53 in 2010.
Council member Joseph Hall cast the dissenting vote after telling council he "supported the intent," but had worries that the changes may raise questions about performers' free speech rights.
"I already thought the previous ordinance was pushing the envelope on (performers') personal rights," he said.
City Solicitor Guy Ayres told council he thought the ordinance would be defensible in court.
Mathias believes the changes will also make it easier for the performers to entertain Boardwalk patrons, she said.
"I think this will manage things better, not only by making it easier for police but also for performers who were challenged by competing with each other," she said.
Former performer DJ Walker said the new rules would "definitely" discourage him from taking to the Boardwalk in the future.
Walker, 23, played in a bagpipe and drum duet for a couple years. He said one reason he and his partner enjoyed performing was the ease and ability to make a spur-of-the-moment decision to play on any given night.
"We wouldn't go out every day, just when we felt like making a little extra money," he said. "If we had to go through all the bureaucracy of doing a lottery and planning that much, we just probably wouldn't have bothered."
Jay Knerr, owner of Kite Loft on the Boardwalk at fifth street, agrees with the policy change, and says it should be good for visitors and merchants alike.
Knerr enjoys the street performers, and said they're a necessary element on the Boardwalk, but crowding had been a concern.
"In the past, entertainers or performers were on top of one another," he said. "If this is done where there's a fair playing field for everybody, I'm in support of that."
410-213-9442, ext. 14
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