City Will Address First Pro-Lewes Beach Proposal, Beach Parking, and Building Height Ordinance on Monday Evening, Nov. 8th. (11/6/21)
On Monday, November 8th, at the M/CC meeting, Council Members Williams and Saliba will offer a two-part proposal. The first part will reverse the City’s current ban on repairing or maintaining a home in the floodplain if, over the last 10 years, more than 50% of the value of the home was been spent on repairs, maintenance, or renovations. Currently, once the 50% cap is reached, the homeowner must first bring the property into compliance with all new building rules, regardless of cost. If the proposal is adopted, property owners will again be free to repair and maintain their homes like all other Lewes residents. The second part creates a mechanism that will allow the public to submit proposed solutions to problems in the floodplain. Click here for their proposal.
In addition, there will be a discussion about the City staff’s proposal to hold a workshop on February 2, 2022 on beach parking. The number of problems with the proposal are growing as people have a chance to read it and the accompanying map of possible parking spots and existing “encroachments.” For a copy of the proposal, click here. For a copy of the map, click here .
And, there will be another discussion about the recently proposed Building Height, Etc. ordinance. The City will recommend breaking the proposal into 5 separate ordinances. The latest proposal makes no mention of delaying consideration of those portions of the ordinance that address issues before the Executive Committee on Resiliency or that, on their face, appear to violate the City’s Code of Conduct. There will no vote on the proposal. Click here for the information shared on the revised Building Height Proposal.
Again, if interested, we hope you will speak in support of the Williams/Saliba proposal. It’s the first time in recent memory that the Council will take up a proposal that actually helps Lewes Beach homeowners. The meeting will begin at 6:30pm at City Hall. Click here for the Zoom link.