Council moves multiple ordinances and resolutions; fence-permit and police-property rules adopted

The Annapolis City Council on Feb. 10 took action on several ordinances and resolutions, adopting a revised fence-permit ordinance on third reading and approving an amended police property and contraband disposal ordinance. The council also considered first readers and referred multiple resolutions and an ordinance to committee.

Key outcomes

- O-29-24 (fence permit requirements, title 17): The council adopted O-29-24 on third reading after considering a series of amendments discussed in committee and on the floor. Multiple technical amendments (numbered 1–5 in committee) were offered; the council approved amendments that, among other changes noted by staff, limited the tree-plotting requirement to trees over 5 inches in diameter located within 3 feet of a proposed fence and allowed staff to use GIS to verify easements, rights-of-way and utilities rather than requiring applicants to supply them on paper plans.

- O-28-24 (Police Department property and contraband disposal): The council adopted O-28-24 on third reading after adopting an amendment (moved by Alderman Savage) that requires confiscated bicycles to be turned over to nonprofits that distribute them to Annapolis residents in need. The ordinance was approved on a roll-call vote recorded as unanimous in the transcript.

- O-5-25 (speed monitoring cameras): The council approved a motion to refer O-5-25 to committee; the ordinance was referred to city government committee, transportation committee and the transportation board for further work.

- R-2-25 (demonstration program to build green roofs on city bus shelters): The council adopted R-2-25 on first reading and directed referral to the finance committee; discussion included a request to also refer the measure to the environmental matters committee.

- R-6-25 (nonprofit vendors during fall 2025 boat shows) and R-7-25 (itinerant merchant sales in the historic district for calendar year 2025): Both resolutions were adopted on the floor and referred to the finance committee.

Procedural notes and amendments

Amendments to O-29-24 were debated at length. Committee sponsors explained that earlier draft language imposed an extensive plan requirement on fence applicants, and the approved amendments narrowed the scope of required tree mapping and shifted some verification tasks to staff using existing GIS resources. One committee amendment discussed at length (known as amendment 3 in committee) drew multiple views from council members about when demolition should trigger permit review; the council ultimately approved the set of edits that moved through committee and were adopted on third reading.

For O-28-24, the floor amendment to direct confiscated bikes to local nonprofits was described by the mover as adding a distribution requirement; the council adopted the amendment by voice vote and passed the ordinance on third reading by roll call.

Votes and roll calls

Where roll-call votes were read into the record, the clerk recorded ‘Aye’ for the mayor and a majority of aldermen on the final adoption of the cited ordinances. Several amendments were approved by voice vote or roll call as noted above. The meeting transcript includes the roll-call readouts for the third-reader approvals.

Next steps

Referred ordinances and resolutions will return to the committees noted above for further drafting, fiscal analysis or recommendation before any final funding or implementation decisions. Council minutes and the posted packet will provide the official roll-call tallies and the final ordinance text.