As you know by now, there has been an ordinance introduced by the Mayor and Commissioners of the City of Rehoboth Beach to heavily regulate and eliminate pool usage entirely by tenants of a residential rental home - this includes hot tubs. This is their response to noise complaints in the summer of 2014 primarily from owner-occupied homes with or without pools, according to the Chief of Police, Keith Banks.
The Mayor introduced an Amendment to that Ordinance to Amend Chapter 206 of the Municipal Code which states in Article III, Subsection 206-16 that ..."no unenclosed pool shall be used at any time in conjunction with a vacation rental after January 1, 2018. Thereafter the pool shall at all times the property is used for a vacation rental be covered by a locked cover."
This was discussed at a well-attended Workshop meeting of the Mayor and Commissioners on Friday, May 29, 2015. Most in the audience were against the proposals but the Mayor was unmoved despite Commissioners Kathy McGuiness and Stan Mills urging him to wait until August to see if the new Noise Ordinance with its "plainly audible" standard has the effect they believe it will.
Additionally, there has been an idea proposed at recent meetings BANNING RESIDENTIAL RENTALS altogether. Another proposal is changing the zoning to only allow rentals in certain neighborhoods or having a lottery with only a limited number of rental licenses available per season. There was discussion of having so many rules such as they do in Palm Springs that it would be almost impossible to jump through all the hoops, thereby discouraging people from renting at all.
Please contact the Mayor and Commissioners and remind them that Rehoboth Beach is a resort town whose businesses rely on visitors and tenants to survive; the town has a rental history almost as long as its existence; and that "normal" summer noise is the sound of our town thriving. They may all be reached by calling City Hall at 302-227-6181.
Mayor Sam Cooper: scooper@cityofrehoboth.com
Commissioners:
Stan Mills - smills@cityofrehoboth.com
Kathy McGuiness - kmcguiness@cityofrehoboth.com
Patrick Gossett - pgossett@cityofrehoboth.com
Lorraine Zellers - lzellers@cityofrehoboth.com
Toni Sharp - tsharp@cityofrehoboth.com
Bill Sargent - bsargent@cityofrehoboth.com
Please also make an effort to attend the June 8 Mayor's Workshop on the pool issue at City Hall in the Commissioners' Room at 9 am and the Mayor's and Commissioners' Regular Meeting on June 19 at 7 pm where the Mayor plans to ask for a vote on this issue.
