Rehoboth approves administrative variances
After months of discussion, Rehoboth Beach commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance creating administrative variances, updated the building code used by the city’s building inspectors and amended the requirements for being a planning commission member.
During a meeting Dec. 20, the last city meeting of the decade, commissioners created a new section of code allowing the building inspector to administratively grant a building setback variance that does not exceed one foot of the building setback, side-yard or rear-yard requirements.
Commissioner Steve Scheffer said the change streamlines the process and reduces the fees for residential property owners looking to make nominal changes to existing structures.
As approved, any variance request creating or increasing a separate nonconformity will not be approved administratively.
As approved, administrative variances may only be granted for existing structures located in residential districts. Applications must include a survey signed and sealed by a surveyor licensed in Delaware, a brief written statement of the administrative variance requested and a $100 application fee.
The city will provide written notice by a certified mailing of the application to adjacent property owners and accept written comments for 30 working days from the date of mailing. Using the exceptional practical difficulty standard, the building inspector has 45 days to approve or deny the request. The decision must be made in writing.
If any adjacent property owner objects, the application will be referred to the board of adjustment, and the fee shall be credited to the board of adjustment application fee, which is $1,000.
Before voting in favor of the ordinance, Commissioner Susan Gay said this was a good first step, but she would still like to see commissioners modify existing code to add re-siding to the list of exceptions allowed to protrude into setback at least 24 inches without a variance. Other exceptions already include cornices, eaves, gutters, chimneys, and steps or entries projecting from the main structure.
Update to building code
New construction within the city will soon be held to standards established in the 2018 International Building Code. Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of updating the code used by the city’s building inspectors from the 2012 version.
Early in the process, there was discussion about requiring new residential structures to install fire suppression sprinkler systems, which is part of the 2018 code, but ultimately commissioners agreed to remove that requirement, as was done for the 2012 version. New commercial construction is required to install sprinkler systems.
Assistant Building Inspector Matt Janis spoke in favor of removing the requirement for the sprinklers. He said there were questions about how sprinklers would affect the city’s water system.
If they want, residential homeowners can still install sprinkler systems. Commissioner Richard Byrne said, by law, builders are required to give property owners the option of installing a sprinkler system.
The city will begin using the new code April 1, 2020. Janis said applications submitted before that date will be evaluated under the 2012 standards throughout the permitting and building process. He said the city would soon be notifying local builders about the upcoming change.
Planning commission member requirements modified
Following some concern raised during the committee appointment process in September, the commissioners approved wording for planning commission members that requires potential members to be residents, property owners, registered voters or persons eligible to register to vote.
Gay, who was the commissioner pushing for these changes, questioned why a person who is eligible to register to vote wouldn’t just register to vote. She said leaving this wording adds to the workload of city staff to prove a person is eligible to vote. Commissioners don’t have to worry about the documentation process until the fall, she said, but she would like to put the burden on the applicant to prove they’re eligible to vote, not city staff.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
