Rehoboth may soon have answer on building code authority

Well over a year in the making, Rehoboth Beach commissioners, planning commissioners and city building officials conducted a special joint meeting Jan. 23 to discuss who has final interpretive authority over the city’s zoning code.

Commissioners listened and asked questions, while city building officials and planning commissioners made the pitch for why they should have the authority.

Attorney Max Walton, interim city solicitor, presented the members of the two commissions with two ordinances – one giving the authority to city staff and another giving the authority to the planning commission.

All but one of the planning commissioners attended the joint meeting. All who attended spoke. They made a number of arguments: They have in the past picked up errors made by the city’s building official; city staff are not held accountable to the citizens of the city like the planning commission is; the process was working fine for well over a decade until the former city solicitor changed his opinion on who had the authority during the summer of 2023.

The system works and it makes sense, said Commissioner Nan Hunter. The public deserves to be a part of the process, she said.

Planning and Community Development Director Mary Ellen Gray spoke on behalf of the city’s building and licensing department. She provided a few reasons why she thinks building and licensing should have the authority.

Planning staff have required professional experience, said Gray. The current makeup of the planning commission has experience now, but it may not always be the case, she said.

In her mind, Gray said, she didn’t think it was an either-or situation, more of an issue about areas of focus. Keep building and licensing dealing with code, while the planning commission focuses on the 21 factors related to community fit, she said.

City code calls for a planning commission site-plan review for any project involving four or more dwelling units; the development or redevelopment of a parcel of land in excess of 20,000 square feet; a commercial project over 15,000 square feet of gross floor area or which requires substantial renovation or increase in intensity of usage; a development requiring a change in zoning; or a site plan referred to the planning commission by the building inspector.

City code also calls for the planning commission, when conducting the review, to consider a list of 21 factors such as traffic flow, access to structures and streets, pedestrian movement, lighting, signage, height, trash removal and more. Code also allows them to set conditions or require changes to meet the factors.

At the end of the joint meeting, in an effort to get the issue resolved, city commissioners agreed to amend the agenda of a previously scheduled special meeting taking place at 10 a.m., Friday, Jan. 31, to include two items related to setting a date for a public hearing on both options. The expectation is the public hearing will be set for the commissioner meeting Friday, Feb. 21.

This will be the second time there’s been a proposed vote to set a public hearing on these ordinances. It was on the agenda of a meeting Sept. 20, but that vote to set the hearing ended in a 3-3 tie.