Dewey clarifies restrictions on swimming pools, pool fences

Dewey Beach Town Council passed an ordinance April 17 that clarifies where swimming pools and pool fences are permitted to be located.

Town code already prohibits hedges, fences and walls greater than 3.5 feet in height from projecting into or enclosing any required front or side yard to a depth from the street line equal to the required depth of the front yard. 

The new ordinance amends this to clarify that this existing restriction also applies to pool safety fences, which by definition are required to exceed 3.5 feet in height. All swimming pools require a safety fence that is at least 4.5 feet tall.

Additionally, this ordinance clarifies that swimming pools are permitted to occupy portions of required side and rear yards, but not any portion of required front yards.

However, there is an important caveat to this: Pools and their surrounding walkways and fences can still be located in front of a house or primary structure, so long as they are not extending into the 18-foot front-yard setback. 

A standard 50-by-100-foot lot has the following setbacks: 18 feet in the front, 8 feet on each side and 12 feet in the rear. That leaves a buildable area of 34 feet by 70 feet.

If a house or other primary structure is built far enough back within the buildable area, then a pool and its surrounding walkway and fence could fit in front of the structure, still completely within the buildable area, without encroaching into the 18-foot front setback.

The ordinance applies to all zoning districts and, according to town attorney Fred Townsend, applies only to new construction and developments, not existing developments. 

Every council member except Mayor Bill Stevens, who abstained from the vote, voted in favor of the ordinance.

Resident and former Commissioner David Moskowitz asked council to exempt multi-family developments, like condominiums and townhouses, and to only apply it to single-family homes.

The commissioners considered his suggestion but decided to make it universal, knowing that it only impacts future construction and not existing developments.

Resident Cindy Souza submitted to council a letter she said received more than 40 signatures from residents against pools being anywhere in front of houses.

Another resident, Marcia Schieck, who has been one of the most vocal proponents at recent meetings of allowing pools in front yards, questioned the logic behind the ordinance.

Schieck compiled a report of what she said were more than 100 existing violations of the code regarding fence and hedge height that she found in the five northernmost streets of town. She argued that allowing pool safety fences in the front buildable area would match the character of the neighborhood, because she said lots of other houses already have existing, allegedly code-violating fences of this same height or higher in this front area.

“When you look at the character of the north end, and you look at these houses that have violations of this, it just reinforces that a 4.5-foot [pool safety] fence in the front yard is going to be in character with the neighborhood, because more than half the houses have violations of this,” she said.

Cape Gazette reached out to Schieck for a copy of the report but did not receive a response by the print deadline. Thus, the alleged code violations have not been evaluated for accuracy.

Commissioner David Jasinski said that many of the alleged violations Schieck mentioned are legally nonconforming exceptions to code.

For a copy of the ordinance or a recording of the meeting, go to townofdeweybeach.gov/events/43388/.

More-restrictive ordinance to be reviewed

It is worth noting that the planning & zoning commission recently recommended to town council a separate draft ordinance that would effectively prohibit swimming pools from being located anywhere in front of a house or primary structure, including in the front buildable area.

This ordinance will be reviewed by council at an upcoming meeting.

Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach and Lewes do not allow pools anywhere in front of houses.