The Draft Comprehensive Plan
The comprehensive plan was was
approved by the town council, pending
approval from the State, during the council meeting of
January 13, 2007. Several
changes from the last draft were approved (see the meeting
summary referenced below).
One of the major aspects of the Comprehensive Plan is to constrain development in the area of the Ruddertown complex and Venus On The Half Shell restaurant area. The owner of those properties has approval to redevelop them in a way which would be contrary to the intent of the plan. However, there is some possibility of negotiation which might bring the owner's plans into some agreement with the town Comprehensive Plan. As background for those negotiations, the below referenced analyses of the situation have been performed.
One of the major aspects of the Comprehensive Plan is to constrain development in the area of the Ruddertown complex and Venus On The Half Shell restaurant area. The owner of those properties has approval to redevelop them in a way which would be contrary to the intent of the plan. However, there is some possibility of negotiation which might bring the owner's plans into some agreement with the town Comprehensive Plan. As background for those negotiations, the below referenced analyses of the situation have been performed.
- The Comprehensive Plan
- Town council meeting 1/13/2007 summary.
- Cape Gazette 12/12/06 article about pending Ruddertown demolition.
- Beachcomber 1/12/07 article "Losing Ruddertown?"
- "Comprehensive Development Plan Summary" by David King, Vice-chair, Planning and Zoning. Review and recommendation
- Pro and Con analysis
- Analysis
by the League President
.
Message from the League President to members of the League 12/17/2006.
Friends,
on behalf or the Dewey Beach Civic League, we want to respond to our
many members who have written to request more information on the
announced teardown and conversion of Ruddertowne and Venus on the Half
Shell to condominiums and to ask what they can do in response.
More information on the status of the problem will be provided below, but first, how can you respond? In sum, the options include 1) become informed, 2) write to public officials and the press, and 3) attend any one of several upcoming meetings listed below and be heard. Public pressure will help a great deal in this situation.
To become informed, visit the League's website at www.deweybeachcivicleague.org, which contains much information on the problem, including press articles, summaries of meetings, information on the Town Comprehensive Plan, pros and cons on the conversion, and links to the town website. There are some interesting zoning and town planning issues involved that are important to understanding the roots of the problem and opportunities for compromise.
To express your views, write to the town commissioners and members of the planning and zoning committees, and let us at the Civic League know your thoughts as well. Again, our website, as well as the town's, have easy email links for this purpose. If you would like to write letters to the editors of the Cape Gazette and the Coast Press, their respective email addresses are: newsroom@capegazette.com and dpc@gannett.com.
There are several upcoming meetings at which the Ruddertowne/Venus issues will be discussed among representatives of Highway One, the commissioners, and the citizens. These include a meeting on December 28 at 6:00 pm at the Lifesaving Station, one on January 11 at 6:00 pm at the Lifesaving Station to discuss the Comprehensive Plan, and the next Town Council meeting on Saturday, January 13, at 9:00 am, also at the Lifesaving Station. A committee to discuss compromises has been established by the Town Council, of which Civic League Board member Paul Bauer is a member. Again, see our website for further details.
As further background on the status of the situation, I will offer these thoughts, with the caution that they are merely my own and that others may have better information and analysis to contribute on this complicated and murky situation. As best I can tell, there are roughly three schools of thought on what is going on here.
The first, and most optimistic, is that Highway One is not really serious about the teardown, that they made the announcement and pulled the permits merely to protect their future property rights and enhance their economic position in order to obtain financing and concessions from the town so they could further expand their commercial businesses. This line of thought holds that nothing is immanent, especially in light of the future approvals that are necessary to proceed with demolition and rebuilding.
Another school of thought is that Highway One is completely committed to the total teardown and condominium conversion for the economic reason that the land is far more valuable as residences and the political reason that they fear future zoning changes (and the Comprehensive Plan) will prevent them from converting their properties to residences at a future time. Some believe that Highway One is having financial problems due to being spread too thin in other developments across the state and due to declining commercial revenues-- thus the need to liquidate these valuable assets or improve their borrowing power.
The third school of thought is somewhere in-between, and is probably the most current. The thinking here is that Highway One is almost certainly committed to converting Venus to condos, but that they are willing to compromise on the Ruddertowne complex and settle for some mixture of condominiums and a few remaining businesses through zoning and other concessions. Highway One representatives have suggested being open to some sort of compromise and to discussing this in the upcoming meetings. Exactly how this compromise would be structured and which parts of Ruddertowne would remain (e.g. the Rusty Rudder, the Lighthouse, the convention center) has not been articulated.
(Another alternative proposed by some is for the town to take the properties through the use of eminent domain, and redevelop and resell them in order to maintain the character of the town. Some communities around the country have taken this step, but its financial and political viability for Dewey Beach has yet to be determined.)
In short, the outcome of this issue is very much in doubt. Many people are very concerned, and if there were ever a time to get involved and speak out, this is it. Feel free to contact us, as well as the Commissioners, if you have any questions.
On a brighter note, we hope you have a very happy holiday season and make it to the beach to see the beautiful decorations all around. The balmy weather makes it seem almost like summer!
David Main
President
Dewey Beach Civic League
Please direct any responses to me:
More information on the status of the problem will be provided below, but first, how can you respond? In sum, the options include 1) become informed, 2) write to public officials and the press, and 3) attend any one of several upcoming meetings listed below and be heard. Public pressure will help a great deal in this situation.
To become informed, visit the League's website at www.deweybeachcivicleague.org, which contains much information on the problem, including press articles, summaries of meetings, information on the Town Comprehensive Plan, pros and cons on the conversion, and links to the town website. There are some interesting zoning and town planning issues involved that are important to understanding the roots of the problem and opportunities for compromise.
To express your views, write to the town commissioners and members of the planning and zoning committees, and let us at the Civic League know your thoughts as well. Again, our website, as well as the town's, have easy email links for this purpose. If you would like to write letters to the editors of the Cape Gazette and the Coast Press, their respective email addresses are: newsroom@capegazette.com and dpc@gannett.com.
There are several upcoming meetings at which the Ruddertowne/Venus issues will be discussed among representatives of Highway One, the commissioners, and the citizens. These include a meeting on December 28 at 6:00 pm at the Lifesaving Station, one on January 11 at 6:00 pm at the Lifesaving Station to discuss the Comprehensive Plan, and the next Town Council meeting on Saturday, January 13, at 9:00 am, also at the Lifesaving Station. A committee to discuss compromises has been established by the Town Council, of which Civic League Board member Paul Bauer is a member. Again, see our website for further details.
As further background on the status of the situation, I will offer these thoughts, with the caution that they are merely my own and that others may have better information and analysis to contribute on this complicated and murky situation. As best I can tell, there are roughly three schools of thought on what is going on here.
The first, and most optimistic, is that Highway One is not really serious about the teardown, that they made the announcement and pulled the permits merely to protect their future property rights and enhance their economic position in order to obtain financing and concessions from the town so they could further expand their commercial businesses. This line of thought holds that nothing is immanent, especially in light of the future approvals that are necessary to proceed with demolition and rebuilding.
Another school of thought is that Highway One is completely committed to the total teardown and condominium conversion for the economic reason that the land is far more valuable as residences and the political reason that they fear future zoning changes (and the Comprehensive Plan) will prevent them from converting their properties to residences at a future time. Some believe that Highway One is having financial problems due to being spread too thin in other developments across the state and due to declining commercial revenues-- thus the need to liquidate these valuable assets or improve their borrowing power.
The third school of thought is somewhere in-between, and is probably the most current. The thinking here is that Highway One is almost certainly committed to converting Venus to condos, but that they are willing to compromise on the Ruddertowne complex and settle for some mixture of condominiums and a few remaining businesses through zoning and other concessions. Highway One representatives have suggested being open to some sort of compromise and to discussing this in the upcoming meetings. Exactly how this compromise would be structured and which parts of Ruddertowne would remain (e.g. the Rusty Rudder, the Lighthouse, the convention center) has not been articulated.
(Another alternative proposed by some is for the town to take the properties through the use of eminent domain, and redevelop and resell them in order to maintain the character of the town. Some communities around the country have taken this step, but its financial and political viability for Dewey Beach has yet to be determined.)
In short, the outcome of this issue is very much in doubt. Many people are very concerned, and if there were ever a time to get involved and speak out, this is it. Feel free to contact us, as well as the Commissioners, if you have any questions.
On a brighter note, we hope you have a very happy holiday season and make it to the beach to see the beautiful decorations all around. The balmy weather makes it seem almost like summer!
David Main
President
Dewey Beach Civic League
Please direct any responses to me: