DEWEY BEACH –An amendment to a charter change regarding building-height regulations has come under fire by residents who claim it will cost taxpayers unnecessary money and aggravation.
“The reason we put (the 35-foot height limit) in our charter is so that it could be absolute,” said resident Marcia Sheick, who supported the placement of the regulation in the charter without an amendment, a measure that would eliminate the appeals process.
“We don’t want the continued legal merry-go-round,” said Marcia Sheick. “Most small towns can’t afford that.”
Concerns about building-height regulations first arose when developers proposed plans for a condominium at Ruddertowne that would have exceeded the 35-foot limit. After much discussion and legal wrangling, the Town Council decided to include the regulation in its charter, preventing further appeals.
But the bill, known as House Bill 50, passed in the House earlier this month with a clause that allows people to appeal to the town’s Board of Adjustment. And as lawmakers wait for the bill to enter the Senate for final approval, state representatives Pete Schwar-tzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, and Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, are voicing their opinions, saying the amendment was necessary.
“It was brought to my attention that this legislation was contradicting one of the laws that we already had on the books that said you have the right of appeal,” Hocker said. “And that is not a bad thing. You’re going to find some time down the road that you’re going to need that right.”
But the amendment has irked some property owners, especially those involved with Citizens to Preserve Dewey — a group of residents and business owners who aim to maintain Dewey’s small-town charm.
David Kaminsky, a Dewey property owner, said the state needs to take into account what the town wants.
“The residents of this town want a codified height restriction,” he said. “I would really like to know who in the state legislature would do anything not to allow the citizens of this town to have what they want.”
But Dewey resident Mary Nelson spoke in favor of the amendment, saying she understood lawmakers’ decisions.
“Everybody in this room would want the right to appeal,” she said.
By Andrew Ostroski | Delaware Coast Press