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With two members absent, the Dewey Beach Planning and Zoning Commission has reached a consensus that the 35-foot height limit for new construction in town should remain intact.
Ed Beste, Jim Dedes, Carol Ann Dryer and David King recommended maintaining the height limit at 35 feet. Chairman Harry Wilson supported relaxing the limit, while commissioners George Metz and Faith Duncan were absent.
While some had a different take on how to utilize the 35 feet, Wilson was the only member of the commission in favor of allowing the 48-foot resort complex proposed by Harvey, Hanna and Associates, which will own the Ruddertowne parcel by the end of October. The company chopped 20 feet from its original, 68-foot proposal. Wilson said the building proposed by Harvey, Hanna and Associates was not what he had in mind for the resort business-1 overlay, but he supported the idea of a larger building in what is supposed to be the zone with the highest density.
“I am for something larger than 35 feet,” Wilson said at the Tuesday, Oct. 9 workshop. “But I don’t want 68 feet.”
Dryer recommended picking one height for the entire town and sticking to it in all zones. Beste and Dedes supported 35 feet for the structure of the building, but they said the measurement should start at an elevation of seven feet, to meet flood plain standards of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They also wanted to exclude from the measurement 42 inches allowed for railings for rooftop decks. If a new building were constructed in that manner, it would reach 45.5 feet, still less than the Harvey Hanna proposal.
Still, that recommendation would also eliminate any chance of a fourth floor, which the company has said numerous times would be the most profitable because of its views of the Atlantic Ocean and Rehoboth Bay. Building inspector Bill Mears said a luxury hotel like the one proposed by Harvey Hanna would require at least 10 feet for each floor. Dewey building code currently includes the flood plain level in the height limit.
“I don’t see anything wrong with adding another story in this most dense area,” Wilson said.
Harvey Hanna attorney Shawn Tucker, who attended the meeting, said he has a problem with not allowing the extra floor. He sent a letter to Dewey Beach town attorney John Brady dated Monday, Oct. 8, that said the town would be violating his client’s property rights if the company cannot build up to 48 feet.
“We’re not threatening with a lawsuit,” Tucker said. “We expect the town and officials to follow the law.”
Tucker said a 7-2 vote by the Ruddertowne Architectural Committee, in June, should have allowed the 68-foot hotel/condo hybrid that was originally proposed. According to Tucker, the Ruddertowne proposal was drafted according to the relaxed bulk standards called for in the comprehensive plan.
“This is not a guide,” Tucker said of the comprehensive plan. “This is law.”
“The town comprehensive plan says the architectural review committee decision is supposed to be ratified by the commissioners.”
The commissioners, who are supposed to vote on the issue when they meet Saturday, Oct. 20, could cause bigger problems for Tucker and his client. Three recently elected commissioners ran a one-issue campaign designed to keep new construction at 35 feet.
Contact Eddie Phillipps at eddiep@capegazette.com
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