Schaeffer working on three ordinance amendments

As Sussex County officials look toward revisiting parts of county code related to subdivisions, District 3 Councilman Mark Schaeffer of Lewes is outlining three ordinances he would like to see introduced by council.

He has presented his proposals to assistant county attorney Vince Robertson, who responded with more information.

Construction work hours

Schaeffer said existing permissible work hours at construction sites need to be clarified to include maximum work hours, with no Sunday work and shorter periods on Saturdays.

The current ordinance states that construction, site work and deliveries shall only occur on site between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, with no Sunday hours permitted.

“There has been discussion at the commission level about this topic and codifying it for consistency,” Robertson said. “I don’t think there is any desire to regulate commercial construction, or even residential construction or remodeling on existing residential properties.”

Subdivisions split by roads

Schaeffer said subdivisions divided by a state road should be required to have full amenities on both sides of the road. In several approved communities, residents must cross roads to reach amenities such as pools and clubhouses.

Schaeffer said the ordinance should also require the installation of a suitable crossing paid for by the developer to allow for residents to walk or ride a bicycle from one side to the other. “If the shared frontage is more than a half-mile, then additional crossings shall be installed. The crossing should be DelDOT's specifications and approvals. The crossing should be fully installed and operational on or before the amenities receive a certificate of occupancy,” he said.

Schaeffer admitted that this ordinance could be complicated.

“A developer would simply get around this by having two entirely separate developments on either side of the road, developed by separate entities with separate HOAs. They would simply say that it is impractical for the smaller of the two to have full amenities,” Robertson said. “Likewise, DelDOT is lately being unpredictable with regard to what I think are common-sense county initiatives.”

Robertson said within the past two weeks, county officials received an email from DelDOT telling officials not to require secondary emergency access points as conditions of approval since they don’t fit in DelDOT’s standards. “So, I am not confident in getting that agency to cooperate with additional crossings,” he said.

Robertson said the planning & zoning commission is ruling on this appropriately on a case-by-case basis. He said recently the commission required on-site amenities for 21 lots in Walden 3 off Route 24, which is across Hollyville Road from the main subdivision.

The attorney said the commission stated that a separate amenities plan shall be submitted to the commission describing the type, size and location of these amenities. “That way the commission wasn’t dictating what is appropriate, but the commission retained final approval over whatever the applicant proposed,” Robertson said.

Silt-fence regulations

Schaeffer wants silt-fence regulations updated so that silt fences are installed on the inside of the perimeter buffer shown on the approved site plan prior to any start of work at the site, with no disturbance of the area and no equipment entering the buffer area for any reason.

Schaeffer is requesting that the silt fence and limit of disturbance be separated farther from the edge of the buffer – possibly 15 feet – under the drip line of trees to avoid damage and sure death of the trees from all the grubbing and heavy equipment right up to the actual edge of a buffer.

“Unfortunately I am getting enormous pushback, mostly in the form of being ignored, but I will continue to press to bring these ordinances forward,” Schaeffer said.