Rehoboth may punt on pool vote
The Rehoboth Beach commissioners will be in the hot seat Friday, June 19, but they could decide to cool their heels before voting on controversial new pool regulations.
The meeting agenda allows the commissioners to theoretically hold off the vote on the pool ordinance and an amendment that would prevent rental homeowners from operating pools. Instead, the commissioners could extend the moratorium on pool construction, which has been in effect since October, and continue debating the ordinances.
Mayor Sam Cooper said this scenario is an option on the table, and one he may be leaning towards. He said the commissioners need to retool both the pool ordinance and the amendment. Cooper said he is not totally on board with aspects of the pool ordinance, such as licensing and annual inspections. He said he saw nothing wrong with taking more time and listening to everyone.
Regarding the amendment Cooper proposed allowing rental owners to have a pool license or a rental license but not both, he said he initially proposed the measure to start conversation amongst the commissioners. He said the amendment was an effort to put more teeth into the pool ordinance, but the discussion ended up dividing people into two camps. Cooper acknowledged that the amendment is likely to fail.
The Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Delaware Association of Realtors have come out against the amendment.
In addition, the June 19 meeting will be preceded by a Save Our Pools rally at City Hall from 4 to 7 p.m. The rally was organized by the group Save Our Nation’s Summer Capital, which was formed by Rehoboth property owners Lori and John Bloxom in opposition to the proposed amendment.
Hearings and Petitions
The Rehoboth Beach commissioners' 7 p.m., Friday, June 19 meeting will also include two permit-of-compliance hearings and approval of nominating petitions for the city election.
Peter Borsari of The Pond Bar and Grill is seeking a permit of compliance to modify the floor plan of the 3 S. First St. restaurant. Meanwhile, Melissa Moore of Egg Restaurant is seeking a permit to operate a new restaurant at 403 Rehoboth Ave.
The commissioners will accept nominating petitions for those seeking commissioner seats in the Saturday, Aug. 8, municipal election. The five declared candidates running for two seats include incumbents Patrick Gossett and Bill Sargent, Rehoboth firefighter and businessman John Meng, Rehoboth resident Richard Perry and former commissioner Paul Kuhns.
Finally, the commissioners will set the real estate tax rate and adopt a resolution applying for a grant from the Wastewater and Drinking Water Asset Management Incentive Program to develop and implement asset management plans for the city’s water and wastewater systems.
The pool ordinance, which also applies to hot tubs and spas, calls for pools to be licensed with annual inspections to be phased in by July 1, 2016. Rental homes would need to have safety signs posted around their pools.
The zoning ordinance calls for decreasing the maximum lot coverage from 50 percent to 40 percent, increasing the required natural area from 40 percent to 50 percent, increasing the rear-yard setback from 10 feet to 15 feet and reducing the allowable size of a home if a pool is built.
New homes with pools would have a floor-to-area ratio of .5, meaning total square footage of the house cannot exceed half the total lot area. All new homes without swimming pools would still have the current FAR of .6, or 60 percent of total lot area.
The commissioners could also vote on an ordinance that would tie the number of off-street parking spaces a home must have to the number of bathrooms in the house. A house would need to have two off-street spaces for every three bathrooms with one additional parking space for each additional bathroom. The commissioners were still undecided on how renovations would be treated within the ordinance.
Lawyer vs. Mayor
Meanwhile, the mayor is involved in another battle with a Rehoboth attorney over construction work at Cooper's rental homes.
Gene Lawson alleges Cooper had unpermitted work done at rental properties he owns at 9-13 New Castle St. Cooper denies Lawson's allegations.
Lawson said at one of the homes, there was a landing and stairs placed at a garage apartment, with no indication of a permit or inspection. Another property, Lawson said, includes pipe railings replaced with prefabricated handrails, which were installed without any visible evidence of a permit or inspections.
Finally, Lawson said, another house had its asbestos siding removed without proper abatement procedures or inspector oversight. He said the siding was disposed of with the household trash and not pursuant to Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control disposal requirements.
Cooper questioned whether Lawson's letter to City Manager Sharon Lynn detailing the allegations was less about what he's doing and more about how low people will go to get their way.
"Why is he coming out now?" he said. "The way he's handled it, it's pretty low."
Building inspector Terri Sullivan said she has begun investigating the matter and so far has found that two of the three properties were properly permitted.
Lawson was one of the attorneys representing rental homeowners Jeffrey Smith and Yavar Rzayev, who were fined $20,000 for having illegal rooms at two of their rental properties. Lawson said he brought the allegations to Lynn’s attention for several reasons, primarily because the mayor was doing the same thing the city came down hard on Smith and Rzayev for last fall.
The city initially revoked Smith and Rzayev’s rental and business licenses after unlicensed and unpermitted rental units were found at rental homes they owned at 114 New Castle St. and 340 Hickman St.
“He’s running the city like he owns it,” Lawson said. “He can’t control everything.”
