t’s been a major focus in Ocean View, and now Bethany Beach has become the final partner in a new “Big Four” for the area: the four communities joining an effort to bring a pedestrian and bicycle path to the edge of the Assawoman Canal that would traverse three towns and one private community.
Bethany Beach Town Council members at their Friday, July 18, meeting unanimously approved sending a letter requesting consideration for matching grant funds for the project through the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC’s) Delaware Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund.
They, along with Ocean View, South Bethany and the Sea Colony Recreation Association, have agreed to each contribute up to $5,000 toward developing preliminary concepts for the pathway project — an idea that has been percolating in the area for more than a decade but that has only recently begun to see true momentum behind it.
The sending of the grant letter and signing of an agreement to support the project with as much as $5,000 per community — if the project moves forward — was indicated as the next required step by DNREC officials, according to Mayor Carol Olmstead.
Next steps include public hearings on the project in all of the municipalities involved, potentially proceeding from there to architectural and engineering design phases, which could result in an engineering plan and a bid for the project.
A memorandum of understanding between the four communities is in the offing as well, to cement the partnership should all four decide to support the project.
Olmstead emphasized on July 18 that citizen participation and input was going to be encouraged throughout the process and that the agreement between the communities would be non-binding unless all four decide to proceed.
“This is great!” commented Council Member Steve Wode, who has championed improvements to the area’s pedestrian and bicycle facilities throughout his first two-year term on the council and the campaign leading up to it. “This is something that was talked about years ago.”
Lifelong Bethany resident and Council Member J. Robert “Bob” Parsons was equally enthusiastic.
“I’ll be delighted if this is thing is built up there,” said Parsons, noting the area near the canal and Cedar Neck Road, once nicknamed “The Hills,” had been a favorite spot for himself and other local children to ride bikes during his youth. “It will be a great place for all kinds of activities.”
Other Bethany citizens may be greeting the news of the potential pathway project with less enthusiasm.
Planning Commission Chairman and 2008 council candidate Lew Killmer said he was concerned that there were “overwhelmingly negative feelings from property owners” in the Turtle Walk community, some of whose back yards butt up against the state-owned property along the Assawoman Canal upon which the pathway would be built.
“I’m concerned that we would expend $5,000 in town money before we’ve heard from them,” he said. “What’s the rush?” he asked, referencing the long-standing nature of the proposal.
Town Manager Cliff Graviet said the only rush was to meet the timeline set to apply for the grant, which Ocean View Town Manager Conway Gregory has been shepherding as part of that town’s effort toward seeing the project come to fruition.
Council Member Tracy Mulligan asked Olmstead to clarify again for him that the town was not committing $5,000 in funding with a council vote to support the grant request with its own letter, and she confirmed that. The town would only be on the hook for the $5,000 toward engineering and design costs only if the council approves participation in the project after the public input phase and only then if it moves forward.
Olmstead also noted that Bethany was the final of the four communities to officially vote to support the grant request for the project. Both other towns and Sea Colony had already done so.
Concerns somewhat alleviated, the council voted unanimously to send a letter in support of a grant for the pathway project.
Also on July 18:
• The council heard a first reading of an ordinance that would enact a new Chapter 73 — Boats, Personal Watercraft and Boat Trailers to the town code.
The ordinance is meant to better regulate the storage of boats and other watercraft within the town, after existing ordinances were discovered to limit boat trailers in town limits to a size that would not safely transport many contemporary boat models.
Rather than enforcing the outdated ordinance, the town drafted a new one that limits storage of large boats to just 30 calendar days per year inside town limits, with a permit and safety-check process also instituted for those craft. The size limitation would be for boats larger than 8.5 feet wide, 30 feet long or 15 feet tall. Smaller boats will still be able to be stored within the town without a permit, though there will be additional regulations on how they are stored.
The council could adopt the new ordinance at their August meeting.
• The council also heard a first reading of amendments to Chapter 25-11 and Chapter 25-12 that were aimed to clear up any ambiguity regarding the town manager being responsible to the town council and the mayor being the primary contact for the council. The changes would also increase the limits on a contract requiring council approval from $10,000 to $25,000, the former being cited as outdated.
• The council approved some minor revisions to its protocol manual, ahead of an anticipated review by the new council after the town’s September elections, citing a desire to offer the current council’s input for that council.
• Sept. 17 was confirmed as the planned date for a council reorganizational meeting, at which new council officers — including the mayor — will be selected from among resident council members. The council also agreed to set that date for a council workshop to follow the reorganizational meeting. The workshop will also serve as an orientation for any new council members, leading into the council’s planned Sept. 19 regular meeting.
• The council agreed to create an ad hoc committee dedicated to determining how the town can encourage the rehabilitation and repair of older homes in Bethany Beach, in lieu of their demolition in favor of newer and larger homes.
The resolution was retooled after concern was expressed that the original subject of the ad hoc committee’s discussion was too narrowly focused on barriers to rehabilitation that might be found in the town’s zoning code. Instead, the committee’s area of work was expanded to finding ways to encourage rehabilitation, regardless of whether those might be found in incentives, removing zoning barriers or other areas.
• The council agreed to send to the Planning Commission a recommendation to formally consider flagpoles as a part of the structure to which they are attached but permitting them to exceed the town’s current height limit. Sponsor Parsons recommended that flagpoles be permitted to exceed the height limit by up to 10 feet, but the council asked the commission to consider that limit on a more open basis.
• Council members agreed to formally direct the Planning Commission to consider, as a priority item, amendments to the Bethany Beach zoning code that would accommodate alterative energy sources.
Parsons, who sponsored the resolution, said he was in the process of having a small-scale residential wind turbine added to his home but is unable to do so until the town makes accommodations that would allow the turbine to exceed the existing roof height by at least 8 feet, for optimum installation.
Noting that the State of Delaware currently offers incentives for alternative energy installations such as a residential turbine or solar panels, Parsons said he believed time is of the essence on such accommodations by the town, since state budget shortfalls could curtail those incentives at the end of the year.
He further pointed out that some part-time residents of the town could potentially be looking at no electricity bills at all if they install solar or wind power on their homes, since power use being zero in unoccupied homes in the off-season, while alternative sources continue to generate power, might make for a wash on that used in the summer.
• The council approved an addendum to the previously signed sponsors’ agreement for the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company’s ambulance service, for minor changes approved during a recent meeting between the various sponsors and the BBVFC.
• At two public hearings prior to the meeting, the council heard no public input on two proposed zoning ordinances — one to formally expand the commercial architectural guidelines to all non-residential structures and another to make amendments to the town’s subdivision and planned-residential-development (PRD) ordinances. Both could be voted upon by the council in August.