When you cross the Route 50 Bridge, a sign reads, “Ocean City, Maryland Welcomes You.” Inside St. Paul’s-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, the rector says that welcome does not extend to the people who sleep in her parish hall each night. Related stories Homelessness in DC region rises slightly, new report finds Dead horseshoe crabs are making some Ocean City, Md.
vacations stink Will Maryland’s favorite beach town have enough international student workers this summer? The church and the town are now in a federal lawsuit over an overnight shelter operating inside the parish hall across from City Hall. The church filed a lawsuit against Ocean City, arguing the town’s actions against the shelter violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Ocean City responded with a counterclaim seeking an injunction to close the shelter, arguing the operation does not comply with local zoning requirements. Town officials say the dispute is not about providing services to people experiencing homelessness, but about how the shelter is operating. The church said it is carrying out its religious mission to help people in need.
During a tour of the church’s outreach center, the Rev. Jill Williams told WTOP the church serves about 120 lunches each day during the summer season and averages “between 30 and 35 people in the evening as guests for the shelter.” Williams said the shelter began operating after the town told the church to remove tents used by unhoused people from its property and move people indoors. “They told us from the beginning that this place needs to look like Disneyland.
They would like all the homeless people off the island. That is the goal of the mayor and city council,” Williams said. In a phone interview, Ocean City Town Manager Terry McGean told WTOP that Williams’ characterization of that conversation was not accurate.
“What I said was that some people thought Ocean City was Disneyland, but I knew that was not the case. That we were a city with all the intended issues and responsibilities, and that we were not some amusement park,” he said. “I guess the way she puts it is a better sound bite, but it certainly takes what I said well out of context,” he said.
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