Letter to Editor Draws Strong Response

The Following letter was sent to the Cape Gazette ‘Letter’s to the Editor’ page last week by Vivian Barry of Dewey Beach. The letter is reprinted here in full along with three responses that letter elicited. The CPD urges you to read this letter as it appeared in the Cape Gazette and the responses printed below.

Cape Gazette Letter To The Editor: April 18, 2008
I originally thought that the Dewey Beach Town Council wanted to save Ruddertowne as a vibrant commercial center. That is what it said originally and why it established the Ruddertowne Architectural Committee on which I served. It said at that time that it did not want Ruddertowne demolished and replaced with a townhouse development. Now I see that all that work was in vain, especially since the new council majority is proposing a FAR (floor area ratio) be established for that district as well as all the other districts in town. I also thought that when the mayor and the two new commissioners said they were willing to compromise to save Ruddertowne they meant it, and that it was not just a political ploy to help them be elected. Shame on me for being so naive.
The majority of the new council has come up with the FAR concept as its “silver bullet” to stop the development of Ruddertowne as even a 35-foot-high mixed-use facility on the Ruddertowne property. That suggests that these commissioners are prepared to go to court.
They must know that the developers will seek legal redress to prevent losing millions of dollars on this project. In addition Dewey Beach property owners must realize what they have lost with the 35-foot building, i.e., the Baycenter, baywalk, public restrooms, additional parking and an attractive building. Many of these amenities could have been saved had the new commissioners been willing to compromise on the height of the building to be built at 48 feet as proposed by the developer.
Then when the developer submits a new amendment to his 35-foot plan back to 68-feet to accommodate the new council’s proposed FAR their supporters have the nerve to say that the building looks ugly, but when the developer submitted the first request for 68 feet it was a great design but it was not 35 feet, and when he tried to keep some of the amenities and great design of the 68 feet in the 48 foot structure the new commissioners and mayor would not even discuss it.
The property owners of Dewey have yet to hear what the new council wants in “its 35-foot building” on the Ruddertowne property.
We now see that they really want is the developer (Harvey Hanna/Dewey Beach Enterprises) gone.
We have heard that the leaders of the Citizens to Preserve Dewey gang have made an offer to purchase the property from Harvey Hanna so they can step in and build their “gated community.” I guess we will get a retirement community and the new suburb of Rehoboth Beach after all.
I would be surprised that the Dewey Beach property owners would want this change, but I guess I was wrong in thinking they wanted to save Ruddertowne and Dewey’s Way of Life.

Vivian Barry, Dewey Beach

The Responses

Dewey Letter Writer’s Motives In Question

Dear Editor,

In response to Vivian Barry’s April 18 letter to the editor, here’s a different perspective regarding the Ruddertowne Development in Dewey Beach.
Living within a stone’s throw of Ruddertowne, I made it my mission to be acutely aware of the new commissioners’ position on the height limit. At no time did I ever hear the newly elected commissioners use the word compromise in their campaign platforms.
Another misstatement in Vivian Barry’s message is that the FAR proposal came from the commissioners – it did not; it came from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Come on, let’s get the facts straight.
A “virtual loss” is not a “real loss,” and Harvey Hanna’s pipe dream of public bathrooms, bay center, bay walk, additional parking, etc. was just that – virtual. Who and how was Dewey Beach going to hold Harvey Hanna accountable for all these promises?
The afterthought of the 48-foot proposal was nothing more than a trite negotiation technique to break the barrier of 35 feet. Once the limit is broken it is always much easier to push for 50, 60 or more. Coincidentally, on April 4, Harvey Hanna, also Dewey Beach Enterprises, submitted a new plan for a 72-foot structure, despite the fact that the town has a moratorium on building that is not in compliance with existing code. 
Vivian Barry’s relationship to the developer is not known, but I encourage everybody to question her motives and reconfirm all that you read, since only two weeks ago the developer has initiated another attempt to blemish our small barrier island with a 72-foot structure.
And finally, regarding Citizens to Preserve Dewey’s intention to purchase the Ruddertowne property, I heard Tiger Woods was going to build a driving range into the Rehoboth Bay or was it Warner Brothers who was going to erect another Disneyland at the site or maybe it was NASA going to relocate Cape Kennedy to Dewey Beach? If we’re going to spread gossip and rumors, let’s spice things up a bit.

Kenneth W. and Susan B. Lodge
Dewey Beach

Letter on Ruddertowne Really a Red Herring

To the Editor,

The voters of Dewey Beach have made it clear to Harvey Hanna Associates/Dewey Beach Enterprises (HHA/DBE) that they would welcome their development in Dewey Beach, as long as they follow the rules and are good citizens. Citizens to Preserve Dewey (CPD) has publicly applauded DBE’s new restaurant and efforts to redevelop Ruddertowne while abiding by our current town building code and 35 foot height limit. Is that consistent with Ms. Barry’s hearsay published in a letter by the Cape Gazette last week that CPD wants to buy the Ruddertowne property and turn it into a gated community?  This is simply not true! Her published letter is a red herring designed to change the focus to CPD just when HHA is pushing once again for a six story hotel. 
Here are the facts that we know about HHA/DBE: 
In the spring of 2007 they put an option on the Ruddertowne property and announced plans to build a 68 foot hotel. They did so even though there was/is a Dewey Beach legal height limit of 35 feet and an ordinance prohibiting the building of any more hotels. This height limit was established by town ordinance law. Furthermore, the law:
Was reinforced by over 800 property owner signatures on petitions in June/July 2007.
Restated by the election of three commissioners who endorsed that height limit in September 2007.
Again restated by Planning and Zoning and Town Council’s rejection of the HHA 68 foot ordinance that would have allowed an exception for their development in the fall of 2007.
Reiterated in a letter from the Dewey Beach town attorney advising them prior to their October 31, 2007, property settlement closing that they were buying at their own risk.
They bought the Ruddertowne property anyway. And HHA/DBE continues to demonstrate bad faith by using a handful of HHA followers to attack CPD for defending the 35 foot limit.
On April 4, 2008, HHA/DBE submitted new plans to build a mammoth box structure at Ruddertowne, topping 72 feet in height.
The real question we’re asking right now is this: Does HHA/DBE want to be a good citizen and neighbor for Dewey Beach and follow the rules? Or will HHA/DBE continue to threaten with lawsuits to try to get what they want?
Citizens to Preserve Dewey (CPD) is a volunteer citizens group that represents over 800 voters who want to maintain the 35 foot legal height limit for all of Dewey Beach. CPD is certainly in favor the town maintaining a vibrant commercial district in Dewey Beach that respects our voters’ mandate to maintain the 35 foot height limit.
CPD supports HHA/DBE’s efforts to redevelop Ruddertowne at the 35 foot height limit and would be likely to support any other developer that invests in the town and follows the rules. CPD does not support overdevelopment that ignores our town building codes and destroys our small town charm and character.
But HHA/DBE does not want to follow the rules. Just when you think it’s safe to get back into the water, so to speak, HHA/DBE’s Thom Harvey and Jim Baeurle have submitted plans for a project that is bigger than ever, a mammoth 72 foot box structure that one architect described as “looking like a prison.” Is this being a good neighbor in Dewey Beach?

Joan Claybrook, Joy Howell and Marcia Schieck
Swedes, McKinley and Saulsbury Streets
Citizens to Preserve Dewey

Preserve Dewey ‘Way of Life’ by Preventing Highrises

Dear Editor,

The Cape Gazette’s title “Citizens to Preserve Dewey Up to No Good,” preceding Vivian Barry’s letter is less than professional journalism and disrespectful to 800 citizens who support a 35 ft. height limit in Dewey Beach. (April 18). The nine paragraph letter had only one paragraph that directly referenced Citizens to Preserve Dewey (CPD).

I served on the Ruddertowne Architectural Committee with Vivian to work with Highway One Partners in an effort to save Ruddertowne from being townhouses. Weeks later we learned a developer, Harvey Hanna and Associates, proposed a hotel/condo project, 68 ft high. Diane Hanson was the only committee member who voted in favor of surveying the property owners regarding the controversial 68 ft height issue. I recommended the issue be placed on the September election ballot as a non-binding Referendum item. Neither idea was supported by Vivian Barry.

Every municipal amenity in Vivian’s letter can be built at a 35 ft height with an unobstructed view of the bay. Let’s preserve the “Dewey Way of Life” by saving it from high rises. Suggesting that CPD leaders want to turn Ruddertowne into a gated retirement community appears to be the latest ploy to confuse your readers and the 800 citizens who signed petitions in favor of 35 ft.

Anna M. Legates
Dewey Beach

Gazette, Letter Writer Taken To task Over Accusations

Dear Editor,

As a longtime property owner in Dewey Beach, I have watched events around Harvey Hanna and Ruddertowne unfold for the past year. It is disappointing that HHA gets a few citizens to parrot their talking points, but it’s a free country. However, freedom of speech doesn’t mean lack of responsibility, particularly by the media organization publishing those comments. We’re disappointed in the Cape Gazette for not even checking with the Citizens to Preserve Dewey to see if there was any truth whatsoever to the false charge that they wanted to purchase Ruddertowne. Instead, your newspaper published what Vivian Barry acknowledges to be rumor and hearsay with reckless disregard for the truth. We deserve better, even in a letter to the editor which had numerous factual errors and little credibility to start with.

Sincerely,
Marvin Segel