OCEAN CITY, Md. -- The people of Ocean City have spoken and decided to strike down the short-term rental restrictions the city council passed back in March. However, the special election yielded a much closer vote than some expected.
1,634 people walked into the Roland E. Powell Convention Center on Tuesday, prepared to participate in determining the future of short-term rentals. 834 of those people voted against the restrictions, while 800 voted for them.
That razor-thin margin has Palmer Gillis, who voted "for" the restrictions, believing both sides must find common ground.
"This is an important issue to our community, and I think that's where we come back and go back to the drawing board and see if there's a happy middle ground to come up with a solution that's more acceptable to everybody," said Gillis.
Terry Miller, who was a driving force behind the petition that sent this issue to a referendum, agrees.
"We want to work with the people that are for this ordinance, on fixing the few problems that exist. We are committed to trying to make the town great for everyone," said Miller.
Short-term rentals have been a contentious talking point in the resort town for the past few months. The restrictions barely passed by a vote of 4-3, led to a full-fledged petition effort, and pitted neighbor against neighbor.
"This has really given the town a bit of a black eye," said Miller.
She hopes Tuesday's special election will help dissipate any bad blood rather than add further fuel to the fire.
"I hope now that we can all come together as a community and heal," said Miller. "Because this has been a divisive issue and that's not what I want, I love this town, I love my neighbors, I love my neighborhood."
And Miller would like Tuesday's results to speak for themselves.
"I hope that the mayor and council will not come back and try to change this," said Miller. "They said they would abide by the people speaking and they have spoken."
Of course, the two sides still disagree on whether the people of Ocean City made the right choice.
"I believe that the opponents will realize in a short order, when I say that, two to five years, maybe 10, that perhaps there was a need to address short-term rentals," said Gillis.
The previously passed restrictions are now off the table, but it's very likely conversations surrounding short-term rentals are not.