BYOB Battle in Ocean City Begins With Launch of Petition Drive

Ocean City has been abuzz all week with talk of an invasion: an assault by six-pack-toting frat boys on the family resort.

A group of restaurant owners launched a petition drive on Tuesday that calls for a November vote on allowing BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) restaurants in the dry town.

Since the founding of the island as a Methodist retreat in the 1800s, the sale and public consumption of alcohol has been prohibited through laws and deed restrictions. And today Ocean City continues to capitalize on its brand as a dry town and "America's Greatest Family Resort."

The idea of tampering with that formula is firing up some passion on the streets of O.C.

A Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday became an impromptu debate on BYOB when Mayor Jay Gillian, also the owner of Gillian's Wonderland Pier, expressed his vehement opposition to the project. A restaurant owner pointed out the struggles businesses in town are facing in the off season, when the population dips to a scant 11,700. And the exchange caught fire from there. Former Mayor Henry "Bud" Knight chimed in with his opposition (noting Ocean City Patch and all the comments on the story in the process).

In conversations on the beach, boardwalk and downtown, the talk is of BYOB. See Facebook comments

Other merchants and business owners say to do anything to change Ocean City's reputation as a family resort will be disastrous.

The petition calls for allowing BYOB in all restaurants with table coverings (tablecloths, etc.) and a full-time wait staff of one. It limits the amount of alcohol that can be carried in (a bottle of wine per person or six-pack of beer per two people). It prohibits hard liquor and requires Boardwalk restaurants to have an off-Boardwalk entrance for use in the summer.

The petition organizers have until the end of the summer to collect about 750 signatures of registered Ocean City voters -- so not all of the heat this season will be coming from the weather.