The City Council meets this Monday, October 12, at 7 PM: six public hearings, five introductions, and six final votes, including two of my own Charter amendments. The hearings I most want you to weigh in on are the outdoor dining update (O-29-26), which I co-sponsored to fix the rule that technically makes it illegal to stand up with a drink in an outdoor dining area, and the new process for waiving parking fines (O-28-26). I have amendments in the works on both.
Monday also brings the interim report on the short-term rental moratorium (ID-164-26): 303 licensed, 65 still unlicensed, and a recommendation to implement the 10 percent blockface cap and lottery that came from my amendment. I am co-sponsoring two first readers worth your attention: O-30-26, which sets ground rules for how evictions are carried out, and R-45-26, which backs stronger limits on the industrial menhaden harvest in the Bay.
Further down: my request that the Planning Commission reconsider the market and gas station at the former Annapolis Seafood site on Forest Drive, and the headline from my Environmental Matters Committee, that the City ferry pilot needs a Council decision by the end of this month. New this issue: I am posting committee and boards-and-commissions summaries on my blog so this email stays short. This month's are the Environmental Matters Committee update and Around the City: Boards and Commissions.
Stay healthy and safe,
Rob
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The short version of the September 28 special meeting:
| • | R-33-26 — Short-term rental fines: passed 8-1. I was the no vote. The maximum fine for an unlicensed short-term rental is now $5,000 for a first offense and for repeat violations alike. My amendment to set the first-offense maximum at $2,000 and keep $5,000 for repeat violators failed 2-7. I want more enforcement against unlicensed operators, but a flat ceiling removes the incentive to fix a problem early and leaves no buffer for a homeowner who made a paperwork mistake. I will be reading the inspector guidelines the Mayor has asked Planning and Zoning to write. |
| • | O-17-26 — Driveway parking: sent back to committee. Public Safety had not yet reviewed the amendments, so the Council referred it back rather than debate them cold. Public Safety has since recommended it with an amendment that folds in the administrative appeal from my Amendment 4, so a resident ticketed in front of their own driveway can get the citation voided with proof of occupancy. It could return for a final vote October 26. |
| • | Also that night: R-28-26, the Military Bowl Parade fee waiver, passed 9-0 with my amendment putting on the record that the game's corporate title sponsorship is a private agreement the City is not party to (my amendment to strike the sponsor's name failed); the Council ratified the three union agreements, confirmed the first five members of the new Art in Public Places Commission, and held the public hearing on O-15-26, the cottage food ordinance I co-sponsored, which drew one speaker, in support. |
My Environmental Matters Committee met October 8 and recommended the Resilience Authority ordinance (O-21-26) with both of my amendments. The bigger news: the City ferry pilot needs a Council decision by the end of October. Five qualified operators answered the City's request for information, the requests for proposals for the hybrid ferry and the landing sites (including Eastport at 5th Street) are ready to advertise, and staff told the committee the time to decide is now. Also: the St. Mary's living shoreline on Spa Creek finishes October 19, and LED retrofits plus community solar are saving the City roughly $240,000 a year at no cost. Full write-up: Environmental Matters Committee update, October.
The Economic Matters Committee (October 7) recommended O-11-26, O-25-26, and R-34-26, all on Monday's agenda. And something new: I have started writing up what the City's boards and commissions do between Council meetings. In early October, Public Safety recommended the driveway parking ordinance and heard that crime is down 6 percent with Forest Drive a primary traffic enforcement corridor; the Financial Advisory Commission took up my letter on next year's budget and heard the City may issue no new debt this year; and the Human Relations Commission is down to exactly a quorum and needs members. All eight meetings: Around the City: Boards and Commissions, early October. Interested in serving? The application is here, and I am always glad to hear from Ward 7 residents who want to.
| 7:00 PM at City Hall, in person. Televised on local cable, YouTube, Facebook, and the City website. Submit written testimony anytime at www.annapolis.gov/testimony. The full agenda is on Legistar. |
Short-term rental moratorium: the interim report
Planning and Zoning Director Chris Jakubiak presents the interim findings required by the moratorium. As of September 30: 303 licensed short-term rentals, about half in Ward 1; 65 operating without a license, down substantially from a year ago; and 30 active enforcement cases. Staff finds that short-term rentals have reduced housing and changed neighborhood character where they are concentrated, and that current fines have not deterred operators who know the rules and ignore them. The preliminary recommendation is to implement the regulations already on the books, the 10 percent blockface cap and the license lottery that came from my amendment, plus more enforcement staff, better technology, higher fees, and a strict definition of "owner-occupied." Options still under study include limits on rental days, zoning restrictions in some residential districts, and a citywide license cap. My questions Monday: why 65 unlicensed operators but only 30 enforcement cases, and whether the department has used its existing authority to post unlicensed properties; what the fee increase should be; and how a zoning approach would treat existing licensed rentals. As many of you know, I voted against the moratorium, and I will be watching whether this work produces the policy fixes it promised.
Public hearings — your chance to weigh in
You can testify in person Monday night or, if you cannot attend, submit written testimony in advance at www.annapolis.gov/testimony. Each item then goes back to committee before a final vote.
| • | O-29-26 — Outdoor dining update (Alderman Thorp and me). The code today says a restaurant may only serve seated patrons, so a customer standing in an outdoor dining area with a beer is technically in violation. This ordinance lets restaurants with seasonal parking lot dining serve standing patrons, clarifies which department issues each permit, sets barrier and planter standards, and tightens seating and occupancy limits. I have asked for four amendments: extend the standing fix to the Market Space dining area, which the ordinance leaves out; require barriers that actually look good and prohibit construction-style barriers outright; require the Fire Department to raise seating limits during the special exception review rather than cutting seating afterward below what the Board of Appeals approved; and strike a new purpose clause calling outdoor dining consistent with the City's "residential" character, which reads as an invitation to litigate. If you dine outdoors, or live near a restaurant that does, Monday is the night to say what has worked and what has not. |
| • | O-28-26 — Waiving transportation fines (Alderwoman Allsup-Johnson and Alderman Schandelmeier). There is no process today to waive a parking fine even with a good reason. This lets the Director of Transportation, with Mayor or City Manager sign-off, waive a fine for someone on City business or for a documented emergency, and lets the Council waive fines by resolution. I support the concept, given how many of you have written to me about downtown parking tickets. My amendments would limit waivers to parking fines, adopt the rules through the City's public rulemaking process, and require an annual report to the Council on every waiver. A waiver program only works if people trust it is not a favor bank. |
| • | O-25-26 — Food trucks at Historic District special events (Alderman Schandelmeier and Alderman Huntley). Lets food trucks take part in Historic District events run by a local business association, such as First Sunday Arts, not only City-sponsored events. Permits are event-specific and the association stays in control. Economic Matters recommended it; I plan to support it. |
| • | O-27-26 — Water service line inspections (Mayor Littmann). Federal lead and copper rules require the City to verify the material of every water service line, including on private property, by November 2027. No lead lines are on record here, but each line must be checked. This authorizes Public Works, with credentials and reasonable advance notice, to enter and inspect. It is referred to my committee; no issues. |
| • | O-26-26 — Relettering the residential parking districts (Alderwoman O'Neill). Districts 1 through 5 become A through E so they stop being confused with wards. No boundaries or rules change. CA-4-26 — City Attorney as resident agent (Mayor Littmann) names the City Attorney to receive legal papers on the City's behalf, as state law requires. Housekeeping, both. |
Consent calendar
SA-4-27 books a $20,000 Department of Justice grant for the Police Athletic League youth mentoring program. ID-186-26 authorizes the Council to meet in Cumberland on November 13 to tour its rebuilt, curbless Baltimore Street, which I would like to see tried on Main Street.
Being introduced Monday (first readers)
Introduction only: no debate and no final vote. Each goes through committee review and a public hearing first.
| • | O-30-26 — How evictions are carried out (Alderman Schandelmeier; I am co-sponsoring). State law and the courts decide whether someone is evicted; this ordinance sets City rules for what happens after a court orders it. A landlord must give written notice at least 14 days before the Sheriff's repossession date, change the locks with a deputy present, and dispose of belongings only lawfully, never dumped on the street or sidewalk; if they do, Public Works hauls it and bills them. The County adopted its version in March, and this aligns the City with it. My two amendments: a short period after lockout for a tenant to reclaim belongings, and a broader definition of "tenant" that covers holdovers. The companion fine schedule, R-37-26, sets up to $1,000 a day; I have proposed $2,000 a day for repeat violators. |
| • | R-45-26 — Standing up for menhaden (Alderman Huntley and Mayor Littmann; I am co-sponsoring). Menhaden feed the Bay's rockfish, bluefish, dolphins, and ospreys, and Maryland's ospreys have been failing to raise their young as the industrial reduction fishery grinds menhaden into fish meal and oil by the ton. The interstate fisheries commission votes in November on a plan to cut the Chesapeake Bay reduction harvest cap in half and spread the rest across the season. This puts the Council on record in support. I have asked for one amendment to strengthen it. |
| • | R-39-26 waives up to $6,900 in City costs for the Inner West Street Association's Budweiser Clydesdales meet and greet on December 27; R-40-26 authorizes a Naptown Flea vintage market in the Historic District on November 22. I support both. |
Final votes Monday (second readers)
| • | CA-2-26 — Expanding the Board of Supervisors of Elections (my legislation, co-sponsored by Alderman Huntley). The Board that runs City elections has three members, so any two are a quorum and cannot talk outside a public meeting. The Board asked for this change and the 2021 Charter Revision Commission recommended it. My amendment expands the Board to five, sets its makeup to reflect how Annapolis voters are actually registered (two seats for the largest party, one for the second, one reserved for an unaffiliated voter, and a fifth for a third party only if it reaches 10 percent of registered voters), and lets any voter self-nominate while the Council keeps the appointing authority it has today. Alderman Smith-Brown has a substitute amendment, adopted 2-1 by the Rules Committee, and I will ask my colleagues to vote it down. It is not a set of edits: it replaces nearly every provision, moves appointments from the Council to the Mayor, makes party input optional, and loosens the ratios so the Board need not reflect the voters. It also had none of the review the underlying amendment had, and in my read carries drafting conflicts a Charter amendment cannot afford. I will support CA-2-26 as introduced. |
| • | CA-3-26 — Expanding the Charter preamble (my legislation, with Alderwoman Allsup-Johnson, Alderman Schandelmeier, Alderwoman Contee, and Alderwoman O'Neill). The 2021 Charter Revision Commission, nine residents and more than 1,000 volunteer hours, made this its first recommendation. A preamble creates no rights, programs, or costs; it says what the City stands for. This one commits the City to fair representation, diversity, equity, and inclusion, human, civil, and voting rights, and a healthy and safe environment. The one I feel most strongly about: the City is a steward of the Chesapeake Bay, and addressing climate change and sea level rise is part of the job. Alderman Thorp has a Rules Committee amendment that shortens the language; it keeps enough of the core principles that I can support the legislation either way. |
| • | O-11-26 — Renting rooms in your own home (Alderman Schandelmeier; I am a co-sponsor). The original "rooming house" framework got more complicated than anyone intended. Alderman Schandelmeier's Amendment 2 replaces it with a simple statement: renting a room in your owner-occupied home for more than 90 days is legal and needs no rental license. Today that carries a $1,000-a-day fine. Non-owner-occupied boarding houses stay prohibited. I am inclined to support it, pending any input from you. |
| • | O-21-26 — Resilience Authority membership (Mayor Littmann). Conforms the City Code to the County's changes to the joint Resilience Authority, which finances flood and shoreline projects. As introduced it dropped the requirement that the City's three appointees live in the City. My Amendment 2 restores City residency; those three seats are the City's entire voice on a board funding projects in our neighborhoods. My Amendment 1 adds Council confirmation of the Mayor's appointees, the same standard as the Ethics Commission and Maritime Advisory Board, going forward only. The Office of Law and the County raised no objection; both committees recommended both amendments. I support it as amended. |
| • | O-12-26 — West Annapolis parking district (Alderwoman O'Neill). Removes Forbes Street and Monterey Avenue from Residential Parking District 5. Both committees recommended it; the Transportation Board would go further and abolish District 5. I am inclined to support it as written. R-34-26 — Main Street Advisory Task Force (Alderman Huntley) creates a temporary 7-to-13 member body to guide the Main Street program and stand up an independent nonprofit to run it. I support it with Alderman Huntley's amendment opening seats to residents and the committee's amendment adding pedestrian-access and youth-engagement seats. |
The market and gas station at the former Annapolis Seafood site
On September 17 the Planning Commission approved the planned development at 1308 Forest Drive, at Tyler Avenue: a 5,700 square foot market, retail, and a fuel canopy larger than the market. It is not final until the Commission adopts its written order, on its agenda for Thursday, October 15. The site is not in Ward 7, but Forest Drive is our road too. I want the corner redeveloped and I want a real grocery there; my objections are to the fuel component and to gaps in the record. My testimony made four points: the Comprehensive Plan calls for apartments, retail, and a park here, and this has no housing; fuel sales drive three quarters of the projected trips, and the claimed emissions benefit was never calculated; the design has no hotspot stormwater treatment for the fueling area; and the traffic study on one of the County's ten worst crash corridors measured only capacity, while its own numbers show the Forest Drive left-turn queue spilling past its bay. The Commission held the tree variance to three-for-one replacement, reduced the fueling positions, and recognized the grocery use needs protecting. Then it approved the project the same night.
On September 22 I wrote asking the Commission to reconsider. Members concluded they could not weigh traffic safety; the code in fact requires them to find circulation safe, and the record said otherwise. They acknowledged the Plan calls for housing, then treated zoning as the end of the question. The gas station was never by-right: fuel sales in this zone is a special exception that requires findings on safety, drainage, and access, and nobody made them. I have also asked the City Attorney whether an adequate public facilities certificate was required, since the applicant counted 9,900 square feet of buildings to stay under the 10,000 square foot trigger while the fuel canopy alone adds 5,900. If the Commission will not reopen the hearing, I asked that its order at least define the use as a real supermarket with produce, resolve the driveway and queue problems before final site plan approval, and require stormwater, water, sewer, and fire flow to be shown adequate before any grading permit. I will report back after the 15th.
Around town
The Annapolis Sailboat Show runs October 15 to 18 at City Dock, 10 AM to 6:30 PM, with the Memorial Circle traffic pattern in place through the week after. The Annapolis Police Department's Faith N Blue Festival is Sunday, October 11, noon to 4 PM at People's Park. The Maryland Avenue Fall Festival is Sunday, October 18, 10 AM to 5 PM. And the City's Office of Resilience and Sustainability has a new Sustainable Annapolis newsletter out, with restoration and energy program updates.
Thank you, as always, for your engagement.
— Rob
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