With work complete on a complete revamp of Chapter 245 of the town’s zoning code, Bethany Beach Planning Commission members at their June 21 meeting turned their eyes to the future, brainstorming on projects and issues the commission will take up in coming months.
Commissioner Fulton Loppatto had a laundry list of items, at the top of which was a “green” initiative for the town, which he himself will lead. The commission has already dealt with some aspects of environmentally-friendly planning, having unsuccessfully and sporadically pursued in recent years ways to deal with impervious surfaces.
The new initiative would expand that work to deal with a variety of green issues that could be addressed in the town’s planning and zoning code.
Loppatto also supported organizing a “summit” of area planning commissions where the planners could “converge” on a number of issues — taking a single consolidated stance in front of the Sussex County Council and its planning commission, for instance.
Commission Chairman Lew Killmer said he could envision such a summit — likely scheduled for the fall — including keynote speakers on a variety of planning-related topics, such as the “carrying capacity” of area roadways and how to manage public access to beaches within municipalities when parking is consistently at capacity.
“The state beach closes its parking lots when they’re full,” he noted. “We don’t have that luxury.”
Killmer further recommended including Sea Colony and possibly other large residential communities in the area, with the hope to generate more ideas and getting the community as a whole excited about working together on planning issues.
Commissioner Don Doyle offered to take the lead on dealing with issues related to driveways and parking in the town. Doyle said he was concerned that the town move toward uniformity for residential parking, versus continuing to allow cars to be parked on what amounts to a property’s lawn.
He also noted concerns about adequate parking at businesses in the C-2 commercial district, pointing out that parking overflow at the new Romeo’s Kitchen restaurant on Route 26 was leading to employees parking on residential streets in the Turtle Walk community, resulting in complaints from those residents.
Killmer said he would continue to remain involved in efforts to preserve the town’s commercial district from the pressure of residential property values. Already, some of the town’s downtown business owners have approached the town with hopes to organize a more year-round environment that would support those businesses.
Additionally, Killmer said he would like to look at defining types of businesses the town would want to encourage to locate within its limits. He noted that the town might model itself on Rehoboth Beach, or Virginia Beach, or Cape Cod, all of which he has already approached to get an idea about the mix of businesses located there now.
Killmer said he also expected the planners to be involved in further work to improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities in the town. The town council is already moving forward on initial phases of such improvements, but Killmer said he felt an overall plan might help them obtain grant funding for the work.
Commissioners laid to the side the idea of working on a proposed Assawoman Canal bicycle and pedestrian path, noting that the issue is largely the domain of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the state’s parks and recreation department.
Neighboring Ocean View has actively been pursuing the creation of a path from its limits through Bethany to South Bethany. But Killmer noted that residents of Turtle Walk were already expressing concern about the possible invasion of the area behind their quiet back yards by a formal path.
Commissioner Faith Denault agreed to lead work to possibly plan more year-round activities for the town — something Loppatto particularly championed. Killmer noted that such a plan would require much work but he said he felt it had long-term potential.
Denault said she would contact the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce to possibly coordinate with its efforts to support a more bountiful and year-round business climate.
In addition to these issues, the commissioners have also begun early preparation for future updates to the town comprehensive plan, which is not due for a major update until 2010.
Rental owners could get safety checklist
Also on June 20, commissioners reviewed a proposed “self-certification safety checklist” for rental properties licensed by the town.
Killmer had previously proposed licensed rental properties be reviewed for basic safety features, and the self-check list was one way the commissioners felt safety could be better assured without requiring the town to hire inspectors to verify the existence of required features.
As proposed, the list of required features would include:
• Battery-operated smoke detectors on every level of a rental home.
• “Egress windows” in each bedroom, to allow residents to easily exit the home in event of a fire (safety ladders would not be required, but the egress windows are already a code requirement for new homes in the town).
• Deadbolt locks on external doors to have a non-keyed interior switch (already required in town code). Killmer said he would like to require deadbolts on all exterior doors, as a security feature for renters, but other commissioners said they felt the requirement was a step too far.
• Ground-fault interrupter outlets in any area near water, with ground-fault breakers permitted instead in homes that do not already have third, grounding wire in their electrical systems.
• House numbers posted visibly on each home, per existing town requirements.
• Locks on any windows accessible by stairs or fire escapes (also required by code).
Killmer emphasized that he felt these minimum standards should be adhered to by owners of rental properties, since those renting the homes would likely expect a basic level of safety features to be present. The costs to meet the requirements would be minimal compared to potential rental incomes, he noted, to the agreement of the other commissioners.
Denault recommended that, since the self-check list requires a certification on the property owner’s part but no inspection by the town, the checklist require a notarized signature. The commissioners supported that, with a further recommendation from Council Liaison and Vice-Mayor Tony McClenny that the town offer free notary services when the document is notarized at town hall.
If approved by the town council and put into effect, the new checklist would be included annually with rental license applications and would be required to be completed and signed for a rental license to be issued by the town.
Before adjourning the commissioner’s last meeting until August, Killmer noted a backlog of previous Planning Commission legislation moving forward in various stages toward approval. He said the primary backlog involved getting a review by the town solicitor, Terence Jaywork, who has nearly 80 pages of questions about updated town code to review before the new town code book is printed.