Member Issue Library
Repairing Homes on Lewes Beach or in the Flood Plain
As a property owner in Lewes, you have the right to make necessary repairs and improvements to your home to preserve and maintain it while you own it. But, if you live in the Lewes flood plain, which covers all of Lewes Beach and a growing part of the rest of the city, those rights are restricted by other city ordinances. According to the city, the fact that your house complied with all rules at the time it was built does not matter.
Today, according to the city, in the floodplain:
a. If your property is non-conforming with the current city ordinance(s) which determine the height of the bottom of the first floor (current formula is Base Flood Elevation plus 18” of freeboard)
AND
b. The cost of repairs to your property for damage of any kind when added to any repairs, improvements, additions, etc. over the last 10 years by you or anyone else totals more than 50% of the current market value of the edifice
THEN
c. To make those repairs you must bring the entire edifice into compliance with the current ordinances on lot coverage and the formula for determining the elevation of the height of the bottom of the first floor.
For example, let’s say your current edifice -not the property, just the building -has a fair market value of $200,000. To repair damage from a recent storm damage, you need to replace the roof, which will cost $10,000. To perform that job, you will need a permit from the city. When you apply for a building permit , you learn that the previous owner spent $95,000 improving the house over the last five years before selling it to you. It doesn’t matter that this was never shared with you. Since your $10,000, when added to the $95,000, exceeds 50% of the current fair market value of the house, you will need to bring the entire house in compliance with the current ordinances before you can repair your roof. Again, this is the city’s position, not mine.
The fact that such a major change to the edifice may cost several hundred thousand dollars does not matter. There is no exemption for proportionality.
This gets more confusing because there is an exemption in the rule for safety, health, or sanitation. When asked what this meant, we were told a broken sewer line that made it impossible to flush toilets would satisfy the exemption. Internal damage caused by a water leak inside would not. The earlier example of the roof may not.
As explained, if your house develops a leak, such as at a window, a sliding door, damaged siding, and you’d like to repair the leak before the damage becomes extensive, floors buckle, and mold sets in, you would not be able to take advantage of the exemption. To fix the leak, you would either have to bring the entire edifice into compliance or wait until the damage from the leak was so extensive that the entire house was in jeopardy.
Moreover, if you bring your house into compliance, there is no grace period. According to the city, if for example, you spend several hundred thousand dollars to raise your house to satisfy the current ordinance(s) to determine the height of the bottom of the first floor, once those rules are changed, you are again in the 10 year period.
Despite our repeated efforts, the city will not commit any of this to paper, nor provide specific code citations for these rules. Instead, they require each homeowner to meet with the city or call on the phone individually, and they will provide an oral response. The only way you can be sure you understood their interpretation of the rules sufficiently is to submit a building permit application and see if it’s approved.
There are two ways to determine the fair market value of your house. First, the city already has made a calculation for tax purposes based on the assessed value of the property, although this is often low. The second way is to have your home appraised and they will accept the appraiser’s estimation.
As a potential buyer, you are not entitled to learning what the previous owners have spent on the house in the past 10 years. You may, however, file a Freedom of Information Act request.
Again, this is the city’s interpretation of the law and their ordinances. Others may disagree, but as you plan, you may well need to know how much you actually have to spend on repairs to protect and maintain your property.