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Back on the agenda Tuesday, May 6, the amended lot maintenance ordinance passed, giving Sussex County staff more leverage in an effort to rid the landscape of junk vehicles.
Most thought the ordinance was a done deal at the April 22 meeting, but it was an amendment, not the ordinance, that passed 3-2 after heated debate.
Councilman Dale Dukes cast the deciding vote once again to move the measure forward, but not without a bit of wit.
As it came his time to vote he said, “My problem with this is…” and he cut his statement off and voted in the affirmative. The ordinance passed again, 3-2.
Dukes and councilmen George Cole and Lynn Rogers voted in favor, while Vance Phillips and Finley Jones, president, voted against the measure.
Phillips said the ordinance was too far-reaching and should be restricted to lots in developing districts. Jones said the ordinance went beyond its original intent of providing constables with more enforcement power in court.
Under the amended ordinance, no more than two unregistered or inoperable vehicles or boats are permitted on residential lots.
The confusion over the vote arose when Cole motioned to split the proposed ordinance apart and remove the section dealing with overgrowth of weeds and grasses.
In the discussion over that motion, and to make sure there was still a reference to the existing ordinance dealing with overgrowth, the vote on the ordinance was overlooked.
Cole asked attorney James Griffin if the discarded section of the ordinance should be revisited.
“It would be worthwhile to consider that,” he said.
Griffin said the ordinance is outdated and refers enforcement power to the county’s defunct transfer station division.
“There could be some legal gotcha’s there,” Griffin said.
There was a consensus from council to have a draft of the weeds ordinance placed back on the agenda.
“We need to start it countywide. We need a working document so we can tear it apart,” Cole said.
Jones, who was not in favor of the lot-maintenance section of the ordinance, voiced support for bringing back the overgrowth section.
“No one seemed to have difficulty with this part,” he said.
“Would this apply to DelDOT?” asked Dukes. “There are weeds two feet tall on my road.”
There was consensus that it would be hard to enforce the ordinance on the state right of way.
Cole seemed inspired that an ordinance passed and that passing a second one appeared likely. “We might get a unanimous vote on grasses,” he said. “Or, maybe 4-1,” he amended his statement.
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