Dewey committee recommends modifying building permit requirements

The Dewey Beach Charter & Code Review Committee has recommended amendments to the town’s building permit requirements for maintenance projects.

The recommendations, made at an Oct. 27 meeting, will be reviewed by town council at a future meeting. They are aimed at addressing residents’ complaints alleging that the current permitting process and regulations are excessive, inefficient, outdated and not well enforced.

“There’s just some common sense that has to go along with it,” said committee member Marcia Schieck.

Under current code, residents need a permit to do any construction at their property. This includes remodeling, repairs, demolitions and additions to any building, structure or parcel, as well as painting, drywalling, roofing, HVAC installations and so forth. 

A permit is not required for normal maintenance requiring less than $1,000 of materials, but nowhere does the code specify what constitutes this.

The committee tentatively defined maintenance as the ongoing duty of every property owner, operator and occupant to keep all buildings, structures, premises and accessory facilities safe, sanitary, structurally sound and functional. It includes preventive and corrective actions to preserve property in good repair, protect public health and safety, and sustain neighborhood character.

Under their definition, maintenance activities include routine upkeep of structures/premises, non-structural repairs and cosmetic improvements that don’t involve major construction.

The committee then recommended a tiered, cost-based system for determining whether a maintenance project requires a permit.

Proposed standards

In the committee’s recommendations, members broke maintenance down into three tiers: minor maintenance, intermediate maintenance and permit-threshold activity.

Minor maintenance is any maintenance that costs less than $1,000, including materials and labor. Examples include repainting walls, trim or exterior surfaces; replacing or refinishing flooring; repairing drywall; updating fixtures; replacing windows and doors of the same size without altering structural framing; roof or siding replacement not exceeding 25% of existing sheathing; cleaning or power-washing surfaces; replacing window treatments or decorative elements; minor appliance or HVAC component replacements; and non-structural alterations for patios, concrete slabs, decks and decorative hardscaping.

The committee recommended excluding minor maintenance from the permitting process. Residents also wouldn’t need to notify the town of their work.

Intermediate maintenance is that which costs greater than $1,000 but less than $10,000, including materials and labor. This kind of maintenance would require town notification and approval of the proposed work, with cost substantiation provided by the property owner, but it would not require a building permit or fee.

Permit-threshold activity is any maintenance activity or improvement exceeding $10,000 in combined labor and materials costs. This kind of work would be subject to review under applicable building and zoning codes, and subject to all current permit fees and guidelines.

HOAs

Committee members disagreed about the role, if any, homeowner associations play in the permitting process.

Diane TenHoopen and David Biron argued the town should notify an HOA when they receive a building permit application from one of the HOA’s residents to ensure they’re in the loop in case the applicant is trying to do work that violates the HOA’s rules.

However, others stood firm in believing that HOAs should not be a part of the application process at all.

“There are a great many disputes between HOAs and people who live in communities over development projects, and we don’t want to insert ourselves into them,” said Town Solicitor Fred Townsend. “Ultimately, we’re not in a position to enforce HOA requirements. Sometimes they’re not enforced very well or written very well, and we don’t need to be a party to those interpretations.”

Schieck echoed this.

“I don’t know that we should go down a slippery slope of even notifying the HOA,” she said. “We need to be 100% out of the HOA governance. I don’t believe it’s the town’s job to help in any way. When you form a private governing body, it’s your own responsibility to determine how you govern it and how you enforce your rules.”

Even if the town were to notify HOAs, a lack of HOA approval would not constitute a reason for denying someone’s application, Townsend said. The town is not to play any role in enforcing HOA rules.

Still, TenHoopen and Biron argued that notifying the HOA would do no harm and is the courteous thing to do.

The committee voted non-unanimously to recommend a permit application process in which the applicant is responsible for self-attesting that the work they’re requesting complies with their HOA’s regulations. In other words, the town would not need to notify HOAs of these applications.