Although it has taken years longer than originally anticipated, Rehoboth Beach has passed a new tree ordinance. A comprehensive rewrite of the Code was approved during a Commissioners’ meeting on June 16th.
After Commissioners and staff pondered the vote for the past few months, there was limited comment from Commissioners, but the public had an opportunity to comment before the vote.
Former Commissioner and current Commissioner for Planning, Susan Gay, supported the changes and said: tThis is just one piece in the overall puzzle of preserving and protecting the city’s trees and natural resources. Additionally, she said consideration should be given to a landscape ordinance that encourages turf alternatives and provides incentives and possible code changes that would benefit the trees.
For the past few months, at every meeting where tree ordinances have been on the agenda, property owner Tom Gaynor has expressed his displeasure with the proposed changes. Ultimately, the commissioners did not consider any of his proposals before the vote, but he had one last opportunity to speak during the session.
There are no homeowner-friendly changes, he said. Gay’s comments about changing the code related to landscaping and driveways are precisely the problem, he said.
“Once the tree proposal is complete, we take care of the landscaping, driveways and other impervious services on private, non-city owned properties,” Gaynor said.
In the end, the code changes passed 4-2, with Commissioner Tim Bennett absent.
Commissioner Edward Chrzanowski voted against the changes because he felt the changes did not adequately address trees in public spaces and the code was still too cumbersome.
Commissioner Jay Lagree also voted no. Instead of fixing the code, it was optimized, he said.
as approved, Some code changes include: rreducing the size of trees to be planted from 12 feet tall and 3 inches in diameter to 8 feet tall and 2 inches in diameter; Swhich provides remedial measures for removed trees and requires tree-by-tree replacement; eExpanding the list of city-approved tree species that may be newly planted; Pproviding more comprehensive measures to protect trees during construction, particularly heritage trees; and sCharging a fee to cover the actual cost of planting and tending a tree on a city lot for two years.
In addition to the tree law, the commissioners also approved a new list of trees. Chrzanowski also voted against it.
Public hearing planned on changes to park regulations
Immediately prior to the tree ordinance vote, city commissioners have scheduled a public hearing on proposed park ordinance changes for Friday, July 21.
The commissioners had considered a recommendation from the Planning Commission that would increase hotel parking requirements from one space per room to 1.2. After several meetings and public comments, the commissioners decided not to pursue this proposal any further.
However, there are few proposed changes. One of them is a change related to the provision of two additional parking spaces for the resident family in hotels. As suggested it would be a general requirement of two additional rooms and one room per room.
Other changes include the clarification of existing practices related to the minimum number of off-street parking spaces for medical, dental and legal practices; Parking is not required for a retail or service business less than 15,000 square feet. and a minimum number of off-street parking spaces for all other commercial uses.
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