TRI In The News
Ocean City Braces for Street Performers
From Delmarva Now
Original article available here
OCEAN CITY -- Despite some trouble in the past, Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette Dipino says street performers will return to the Boardwalk this summer.
And thanks to a U.S. District Court ruling that did away with town regulations that infringed on constitutional First Amendment rights, they'll have fewer restrictions.
"We're trying to get them to cooperate with us," DiPino said.
During a recent community meeting, Dipino met with Boardwalk business owners to let them know what they can expect from street performers in the coming season.
Buskers no longer have to register with the town to set up on the boards, and they are now able to sell their expressive work, two changes from the way performers were handled by the town last year.
The relationship performers have with the town and some Boardwalk storefront owners is sometimes turbulent, especially in the case of Mark Chase, a spray-paint artist who filed a lawsuit against Ocean City in 2011.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander ultimately urged the resort to lift some of its restrictions.
Just as the OCPD plans to work with street performers, Dipino encouraged business owners to do the same.
"You might be able to make it beneficial for your business," she said.
Performers are still banned in the area of North Division Street, an area that the Town Council made off-limits for safety reasons, namely because that area is where emergency vehicles get on and off the Boardwalk.
Buskers are not allowed to operate a sound device that can be heard at a distance of 30 feet; they can't perform within 10 feet of tables, business entrances or the tram lane; and they can't block pedestrian and vehicle traffic, ramps, stairways, comfort station entrances or trash receptacles.
DiPino said she thinks performers will help the department by policing themselves.
"They don't want to be constantly checked up on by my officers all the time," she said.
DiPino warned business owners that the department will be conservative about busker enforcement in an effort to prevent lawsuits. Anything questionable that falls into a "gray area" will be allowed until it's determined it is a definite violation of rules.
Shane Warren, owner of B and F Bikes, said he doesn't understand why street performers can set up almost anywhere and sell their wares without paying easement fees or acquiring business licenses.
"The whole nine yards just doesn't make sense to me," he said.
As for Chase, he's already had a run-in with the OCPD this year for playing music too loudly while he was spray painting.
"Of course he gave us the name of his lawyer, but he did turn it down," DiPino said.
Since then, DiPino has received a letter from Chase's attorneys and First Amendment advocate the Rutherford Institute denouncing the OCPD's decision to tell him to turn the music down. They say it "provides inspiration and sets the tempo for his work."
