Ocean City May Reconsider Skateboarding Ban

A grassroots effort to lift a 30-year skateboarding ban on the Ocean City boardwalk and the resort's streets is picking up momentum.

When skateboarding superstar and Baltimore native Bucky Lasek decided to wear a t-shirt that said "Legalize Skateboarding" in Ocean City, while competing in last month's nationally televised Dew Tour, an old argument in this small coastal community was thrust back in the spotlight.

Skateboarding has been banned year-round on the resort's famous boardwalk, and it's prohibited on the city streets from April to October, a law dating back all the way to the early 70s.

Many locals believe it's time to update the law, and a 20-year-old skateboarder, who realized that millions of people saw Lasek's t-shirt on television, started circulating a petition hoping to get enough signatures to persuade town officials to at the very least, amend the law to allow longer skate boards, used more for transportation than pulling tricks, on the city's streets.

And the effort appears to be working, as town officials I spoke with this week, say they agree the law is outdated, and the issue should be coming before the mayor and council in the next few weeks.