“We want to bring some common sense to this whole mess,” said attorney Paul G. Enterline, representing shed owner Jeanne Sisk.

It appears the matter may have some closure in about a week when the county board of adjustment is scheduled to make a decision on Sisk’s appeal of a variance placed on her.

Sisk has been cited for erecting an illegal shed behind her manufactured home in Sea Air Village, just outside Rehoboth Beach. County officials say to replace the shed, Sisk needs permission from park management to, as well as a building permit, and because her shed is nonconforming, she will also need a variance and survey. Sisk says she doesn’t need county approval to replace a shed on an existing footprint, but she is willing to get a building permit. A battle of letters, telephone calls, emails between Sisk and the county has been going on for the past 17 months.

Complicated chain of events

Sisk finally had her day in court, or to be more precise, before the Sussex County Board of Adjustment.

Sisk, who is not a stranger to Sussex County officials, is appealing the need for a variance to replace the shed. Enterline said the foundation of the appeal is that the county cannot ask a person who is making an application for a variance to also submit a survey. “It’s not in your code, regulations or state law,” he said. “It’s not proper for the county to require a survey to apply for a permit or variance.”

Sisk has received two notices of violation for not having a variance, survey and building permit for the replacement of the shed. The dilapidated shed, which she claims was destroyed in a windstorm, was replaced in May 2008. The county sent the most recent violation notice Jan. 28, 2009, a year after the first notice.

After hearing nearly two hours of testimony on Monday, Oct. 5, the board tabled the matter and will render a decision on the appeal at its Oct. 19 meeting.

Much hinges on the board’s decision because a moratorium on building permits and variances has been placed on the park until Sisk’s case has been cleared up. The moratorium has been in place since Nov. 17, 2008.

David Hutt, an attorney representing Sea Air management, said all applications at the park have been tabled since November.

“This notice of violation, referred to by Mr. Enterline as common sense, has been severe to members of the community as well as the community itself,” he said. He said if Sisk had followed the prescribed rules and regulations, there would have been no notice of violation and no moratorium.

No record of building permits

Enterline, who represented Sisk pro bono, said she is willing to pay for a building permit, but not a variance, which would also require a survey under current county policy. The variance and survey would cost as much as the shed – about $1,000.

Sisk said she was under the impression that a permit was not required to replace an old shed with an existing shed on the same footprint. She contends her shed footprint is grandfathered in and does not require a variance for replacement.

There are no records of building permits for two other sheds owned by the Sisks over the past 40 years, said Lawrence Lank, director of county planning and zoning.

Lank said since there is no record, a record of a first permit has to be established.

“The difficulty we have with her application is this: how can the county permit a replacement of a shed that never had a permit without bringing it into compliance?” he asked. “She needs a shed permit.”

And that permit would also require a variance because her shed, like most sheds in the park, is in violation of county-established setbacks.

In addition, the violation states Sisk did not get permission from park management to replace the shed, which is the first step in a long process to replace a shed in a manufactured home park.

Sisk said she has several emails and a certified letter stating she had alerted park management she was replacing her shed. Sisk said park management denied her project because she first needed county permission.

Park Manager Cindy Surface disputed Sisk’s account and said she was notified of the shed replacement after the fact. “I was informed by the county the week after it was installed,” she said.

Prior to doing any work in the park, residents are required to fill out an exterior-improvement request form. Hutt said there is no problem with the replacement of sheds in the park. “But there is a problem with how this came to be,” he said. “It’s not so much about common sense than it is about following the rules that have been set out.”

Brad Bamberger, a resident of Sea Air, said the park has had to suffer because of her actions. “Here we are 17 months later suffering through a building moratorium, variances on hold for certain people in our park, surveys required for any little thing all because Miss Sisk felt she was above the law,” he said. “I find it unbelievable it takes 17 months to deal with a shed issue. It took only one month to deal with mine.” Bamberger said three years ago he had a variance request denied by the board and ended up moving a shed.

Much ado about a shed

“This is a shed, not the Taj Mahal,” said Ed Speraw, president of the Delaware Manufactured Home Owners Association. “I’ve heard Miss Sisk’s name mentioned 67 times. We are here about a shed, not Miss Sisk,” he said.

Susan Laushey, who lives in Silver View Farm Mobile Home Park in Rehoboth Beach, said many manufactured home issues confront Sussex County. “Yet the concern at this hearing is Jeanne Sisk replacing her shed with another in-kind shed,” she said. “The grandfathering and moratorium are tactics to put pressure on Miss Sisk, from other homeowners in her community, to shut her up to stop quoting the nonconformities in her park.”

Pat Wile, who lives in Bay City Mobile Home Park, questioned the county’s priorities. She also had problems over a shed after a call was made to the county following her testimony at several hearings on manufactured home issues.

She said county officials complain they can’t enforce county code because they don’t have adequate funding. “But the county has the resources to go after Jeanne for her shed and send an inspector to my house the same day an anonymous call was made. Is the shed the real issue here?” she asked.