City Moves Forward on First Pro-Lewes Beach Proposal, Withdraws Building Height Proposal, Announces January Workshop on Beach Parking. (11/9/21)
On Monday, November 8th, the Mayor and City Council voted on several key issues impacting LBCA members. They unanimously directed City staff to prepare a draft ordinance reducing the current 10 year cap on repairs and home improvements to 1 year. They unanimously voted to withdraw three key provisions in the highly controversial proposed ordinance entitled, Building Height, Etc. They announced that City staff will hold a public workshop in the evening on January18th,2022 on Lewes Beach public parking. And finally, they approved the subdivision plan for the Thomas property on the corner of Bay and Oregon Avenue.
During the three-hour session, Deputy Mayor Williams and Council Member Saliba offered a two-part proposal. The first part reverses 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 has 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. The second part creates a mechanism allowing the public to submit proposed solutions to problems in the floodplain. Click here for their proposal. After extensive discussion, it was agreed that staff would draft a proposed ordinance to reduce the 10 year cap to 1 year, which would mirror FEMA’s existing standard. If such a proposal passes, it would mark the first time the City has approved an ordinance that protects homeowner rights in the floodplain in a very long time.
In addition, at the recommendation of Deputy Mayor Williams, the City voted to withdraw the controversial Building Height, Etc. proposal which would have imposed a raft of undefined and vague building height rules only on Lewes Beach and an equally confusing set of rules governing private parking throughout the entire city. This is the same proposal the City tried to enforce before the City Council had a chance to review or approve it. When explaining the reasons for the unprecedented withdrawal of the proposal, repeated references were made to the compelling testimony at the City’s October 26th hearing from impacted property owners.
Following public commentary, and a recommendation from Council Member Saliba, the City agreed to move a proposed staff Beach Parking workshop to the evening of January 18, 2022, so that impacted homeowners can participate. There continues to be considerable confusion about what the City staff is recommending or the framework in which public parking spots and related issues will be considered or assigned. We highly recommend you to review the staff’s existing explanation (click here) and the proposed parking map (click here ) to see how this impacts you.
And finally, the City approved the proposed subdivision of the property at the corner of Oregon and Bay Avenue. In explaining the decision, the Mayor and City Council pointed out that the proposed subdivision met current City requirements for a minor subdivision but also attached to its approval a list of additional conditions the property owners must address.