Dewey residents dispute proposed property maintenance standards

Dewey Beach Town Council decided Dec. 19 to significantly pare down recommendations from the charter & code review committee to establish minimum standards for property maintenance after a number of residents vehemently opposed the proposal.

“I totally don’t see the need for this, and I think it’s contrary to what Dewey Beach is,” resident Ed Klima said. “I heard the comment [that] other towns do this. We’re not another town. We’re Dewey Beach, [and] we have a way of life here.”

The proposed standards would regulate the maintenance and upkeep of residential properties within the town, including the exteriors of all structures, sidewalks and driveways, landscaping, rodent harborage, drainage and stormwater management, graffiti and vandalism, outdoor storage of equipment and accumulation of rubbish or garbage. They aim to ensure that structures are kept clean, structurally sound and in good repair.

Current town code has very little in the way of regulating the upkeep of residential properties, so these standards were the charter & code committee’s attempt to fill in those gaps. They welcomed any public input or suggestions.

Cindy Souza, a Dewey homeowner for the last 40 years, doubted the necessity, feasibility and enforceability of the standards.

“We have never been a town that has had grave oversight on [its] residents,” she said.

She acknowledged that with so much new construction and a growing number of full-time residents, some changes may be necessary. However, she questioned whether any problems actually exist to warrant the proposed standards.

Others shared similar skepticism.

“What makes Dewey amazing is that we have a pride in this amazing, small little town, and a lot of people [already] do [these things],” said Alex Hannah, a Clayton Street resident. “Where are the issues, and how can we focus on [those] rather than trying to create conformity for everyone else?”

For the most part, the town doesn’t have many problems with blighting or unkept properties. Klima argued that imposing these new regulations on the whole town when there are just a few bad apples is unnecessary and won’t solve anything, especially given that the handful of property owners who account for the problem don’t follow existing regulations.

In addition, residents said the standards are too vague and far-reaching.

One, for example, would require driveways to remain free from hazardous conditions and be kept safe for use.

“If you’re looking at an older cottage, where somebody is still using and living in it, are you going to go up and say, ‘Your driveway is unsafe’?” Souza asked. “How do you determine what is safe or what isn’t safe?”

Another standard would prohibit disposal of rubbish or garbage into neighbor’s dumpsters or trash cans without permission.

“On my street, there are literally four full-time people,” Souza continued. “Who’s going to monitor who puts what in my neighbor’s garbage?”

She rattled off a number of concerns like these.

After hearing residents’ comments, Commissioner Gary Persinger posed the question of whether to abandon the recommendations altogether and stick to what’s already in the code, or to slim the proposal down and draft a more intentional, focused and enforceable set of standards.

Council agreed that standards of some kind, especially for things like drainage and stormwater management, are important to protect residents, preserve property values, and keep the town safe and attractive.

“You look at the value of your home, your investment, your life,” Mayor Bill Stevens said. “We want to make sure that no one impedes on that or takes away from what you have.”

However, the group also agreed that many of the standards being proposed are overreaching and overly restrictive.

“There are some pockets of problems that people have pointed to, but overall, the general reaction is this goes too far,” Persinger said.

He agreed to work with the charter & code review committee to revise and pare down the recommendations. Council will review and discuss the revised recommendations at a later date.