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Rehoboth ‘clarifies’ commercial gross floor area definition

Commissioners add lists to code of features that count toward or are exempted from calculation
October 22, 2021

Story Location:
Rehoboth Beach City Hall
229 Rehoboth Avenue
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
United States

Commercial developers in Rehoboth Beach no longer have to rely on the interpretation of the city’s building official to see what does and doesn’t count toward the gross floor area calculation, because there’s now a list in city code.

During a meeting Oct. 15, Rehoboth Beach commissioners passed, by a 5-2 vote, an ordinance that inserts a subsection of architectural features that are and are not included when calculating gross floor area. Earlier this year, commissioners created a similar list for one- and two-family home construction.

With help from City Solicitor Glenn Mandalas, Commissioners Susan Gay and Patrick Gossett crafted the ordinance related to commercial development, and, as they’ve been doing since it was first introduced months ago, they continued to say the new wording is a clarification of city code and reflects how the code is currently being interpreted.

These are long-established practices, and having specificity in the code will save the taxpayers money because it will help avoid disputes, said Gay.

Gossett said the new wording makes it easier for developers to read the code because all the information is now in one place, instead of the patchwork process that’s in there now. 

City Building Inspector Matthew Janis said he could not speak to how the city’s past building inspectors interpreted the code beyond his immediate predecessor, but he said the new wording will not change how he interprets the code. Anything a person could build yesterday, they can build tomorrow, he said.

Commissioner Edward Chrzanowski was one of the no votes. He said he was against the inclusion of uncovered porches, balconies, decks and patios in the ordinance.

Mayor Stan Mills was the second no vote, which he said was because he wanted the city’s newly hired City Planner Tom West to evaluate the ordinance.

Representing only their own personal opinions, two members of the planning commission, Steve Kauffman and Julie Davis, contributed opposing comments during the public hearing that took place before the vote.

Kauffman asked the commissioners to hold off on the vote until the city’s new comprehensive development plan was complete, because there could be language about mixed-use development that helps solve the problem. Also, he added, he’s not aware of any jurisdiction that counts uncovered porches, balconies, decks and patios toward gross floor area.

On the other hand, said Davis, the ordinance needed to be passed because without it the city has added ambiguity to the code by passing the residential list. Not approving the ordinance could be interpreted as city commissioners purposely not including some or all of the same structural elements in commercial GFA, even though they have been included by the city’s building inspectors over the years, she said.

As approved, gross floor area in a commercial use would include floor space of all habitable spaces above a finished height, at or above 7-feet-6-inches; portions of basements above a finished height at or above 6-feet-6-inches; porches, balconies, decks, patios, pergolas, gazebos, canopies, whether covered or uncovered; courts closed on three or more sides and covered; atria, or greenhouses, closed on all sides and covered; walkways and corridors that are covered; storage and equipment spaces, at a finished height at or above 6-feet-6-inches; heating, ventilating and cooling devices, compressors or pumps in enclosed and roofed habitable areas; roofed outdoor showers; covered parking, carport, garage, porte-cochere at or above grade; parking area located below finished grade or finished floor of habitable space; all interior and exterior stairwells and stairhalls, on all levels, above grade; elevators, elevator equipment rooms, and elevator shafts; swimming pools, swimming pool pumps, filters and equipment, and surrounding deck.

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