The following letter was sent to the Rehoboth Beach Mayor and Commissioners with a copy submitted to the Cape Gazette for publication.
So let’s get this straight. You are considering enacting draconian regulations that clearly violate the property rights of homeowners in the city of Rehoboth Beach. Using satellite pictures, I counted 98 pools in the city, and I suspect that there are hundreds of hot tubs also. You are proposing these regulations to strangle all the appropriate uses of these amenities in the town over a few problem properties - and, as evidenced by the statements of the chief of police, the problems are not concentrated in rentals anyway.
Residents who own a pool or hot tub now have to get a license each year that can be revoked based on a noise complaint, regardless of whether it involves the pool or hot tub. This would be true for non-renting homeowners as well as those who rent their homes. What is the mechanism for restoring the license? Does it reset each year or does a noise violation permanently prevent you from using your property in perpetuity? This constitutes an illegal denial of use of lawfully installed property. Expect lawsuits on this front.
The amendment that sunsets the rental of pools denies lawfully installed property to be used in the rental of a property. Again, this is an illegal denial of use of lawfully installed property. This would be a class-action lawsuit and will clearly succeed.
What isn’t contemplated is the undue cost burden you are inflicting on the pool owners to buy the locking pool cover. Have you even looked into how much this product would cost? Every pool owner would be required to invest thousands of dollars in a product even if they only rent two weeks a year. That is an undue burden on the majority of pool owners.
Requiring professional management of a pool has no rational basis. If the owners live in town, they can easily maintain their pool or hot tub if they want.
There is no professional expertise necessary to maintaining a pool or hot tub. You test and adjust the chemicals. Having a weekly cleaning and adjustment by a professional may be less reliable than a concerned owner.
None of the commissioners or the mayor have disclosed their ownership of rental properties.
The media has discovered that Sam Cooper has four rental properties without pools. Delaware state ethics laws are clear. His proposed amendment has a direct effect on the revenue he receives on his properties. Any commissioner in a similar position must recuse himself also.
Even the consideration of this nonsense is causing a large amount of negative press for the city. If you pass this, you will be the first vacation destination in the country that denies the use of pools to renters. Say goodbye to the substantial revenues from tourists. You will drive people away.
It astounds me that the commissioners are trying to swat a mosquito with a bazooka. Two commissioners come up for a vote each year. You should expect a concerted effort to unseat anyone who votes for this proposal and invites so much wasted money on litigation. If you vote to put the complaints of the few in front of the rights of the many, you should be ashamed.
Let the noise ordinance regulate the problem. For full disclosure, we have owned our home for 13 years, do not rent our home and have a hot tub. We have two pools on our street and have had no problems with either.
Derek Thomas and Brian Shook
Rehoboth Beach
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