Five Things to Know About Thursday's Council Agenda

City Council has a full agenda for its public meeting 7 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 21) at the Ocean City Free Public Library (1735 Simpson Avenue), but here are five things that might be of special interest:

• 10th Street Marina Redevelopment Plan: City Council will hear public comment and consider the second and potentially final reading of an ordinance approving a redevelopment plan for a marina and restaurant on the 900 block of Palen Avenue (on the bay near 10th Street). The ordinance creates new zoning tailored to allow the following uses: a marina with at least 18 boat slips; a marine fueling station; a building with a restaurant on the first floor, retail space on the second floor and a residence on the third; and 44 parking spaces in a surface lot. Read more on what the ordinance does and does not specify.
• Amended Flood Damage Prevention Ordinances: City Council will consider the second reading of an amended flood damage prevention ordinance. The proposed changes will let the city use the less restrictive FEMA flood maps released on Aug. 27 or the "best available flood hazard data" (as revisions are made). The maps determine required elevations for new or substantially reconstructed homes in Ocean City. See Agenda Packet for the complete text of the ordinance. A separate vote will consider an ordinance that applies the highest base flood elevation from any neighboring zone to the X Zones on the new FEMA preliminary work maps for Ocean City.
• Higher Retaining Walls: As owners elevate their homes and try to raise the ground to close the gap, City Council will consider the second reading of an ordinance that would allow higher retaining walls (but no higher than 30 inches). Because retaining walls are required when owners change the grade of their lots, the height limit provides a "de facto" control on how much fill you can bring to a site. 
• Creation of a new Hospitality Zone: City Council will consider the second reading of an ordinance creating a new downtown "Hospitality Zone" to replace three existing zones in the downtown area of the Ocean City Boardwalk. The new zone would encourage development but also permit residential uses that are now nonconforming.
• OCBP Contract: City Council will vote to approve a one-year (calendar 2014) collective bargaining agreement with the Ocean City Beach Patrol. Lifeguards and beach patrol administrators have not renewed their labor contract in more than four years.