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12 - CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, January 10 - January 16, 1997 •
Rehoboth Main Street 1o( ks at ways to revitalize and preserve character
By Trish Vernon
Rehoboth Beach Main Street is
exploring the possibility of fol-
lowing in the City of Dover's
footsteps and establish a Business
Improvement District (BID) for
the downtown commercial area2
Those merchants within the BID
would be charged a surtax or fee
to help cover the cost of Main
Street services, as they are the pri-
mary beneficiaries of these ser-
vices. It was Rehoboth Main
Street Membership Committee
Chairman Alan Garey who first
broached the possibility of imple-
menting a BID and talk of such a
surtax is still in its infancy, al-
though it was briefly discussed at
the Jan. 8 Rehoboth Main Street
board meeting,
Dover, Garey noted at last
month's meeting, is the only city
in Delaware to implement the
BID, noting the funds derived
from the fee or tax is used primar-
ily for cleaning and upgrading and
to fund Main Street projects.
Dover currently raises $50,000
with an average tax of $100 per
property and Garey is in the
process of gathering more infor-
mation on the subject.
Such a BID could only be estab-
lished by a majority vote by the
Rehoboth Beach Board of Com-
missioners and the tax collected
by the city.
Proponents of the BID note that
unlike voluntary membership
dues and donations, the assess-
ment brings fairness to the rev-
enue collection in that all property
owners who benefit from the pro-
gram are equally assessed and no
single owner who doesn't join or
support such programs as Main
Street gets a free ride. In 1994
Gov. Tom Carper signed into law
legislation authorizing the forma-
tion of municipal business im-
provement districts by municipal
governments.
Rehoboth Beach Main Street
President Kathy Kramedas report-
ed Jan. 8 that "much more discus-
sion is needed to have it fit Re-
hoboth" before such an idea is
brought before the Board of Com-
missioners, along with a data base
of information. Main Street has
requested access to the city's tax
assessment book so that they can
download information into their
computers on owners of property,
assessed value and taxes paid.
Main Street officials are also
putting out feelers to prominent
property owners in the first two
blocks of the Rehoboth Beach
commercial district. Approxi-
mately a dozen of these owners
have been invited to attend a
meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 15 to
discuss problems specific to their
interests and to form an advisory
group to focus on downtown Re-
hoboth Beach.
The letter, dated Jan. 2 and
signed by Program Director Anne
Marie Burnell, states "all property
owners are rightfully concerned
with the future success of the
commercial district. Rehoboth
Beach Main Street, as a program
of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, is primarily con-
cerned with helping communities
retain and expand local business,
while improving the appearance,
function and image of the town.
Your input is essential to the real-
ization of these goals in the down-
town commercial area."
The letter goes on to ask that
they bring along information on
the amount of property taxes they
pay to the city and number of
business licenses they have for
each property. As of Jan. 9, ac-
cording to Kramedas, Main Street
has received not a single reply
from the dozen property owners.
Anthony DePrima, Dover city
planner, will be addressing the
Rehoboth Beach Historical Soci-
ety's annual meeting on Saturday,
Jan. 25 and establishment of such
a district could be a topic of con-
versation, as could the establish-
ment of an historic district in Re-
hoboth Beach.
Rehoboth Beach, with the help
of a matching grant from the state,
paid $10,000 for a proposed His-
toric Preservation Ordinance in
1995, which was shelved while
the city worked on adoption of its
Long Range Plan this past year.
At hearings held on the ordinance,
citizens voiced objections about.
being included in a district, as
while there house may have no
historical significance, they would
fall under the same restrictions in
any renovation and building plans
as their neighbors with historical-
ly significant structures. There
was also concern that the ordi-
nance, which would mean the for-
mation of a new board to oversee
it,'would add an unnecessary and
time consuming layer of bureau-
cracy to city government.
However, interest in adopting
some type of ordinance has
swelled with the recent or planned
demolition of what some perceive
to be historically significant build-
ings.
"It's disturbing," said Richard
Darley, former city commissioner
and Main Street board member.
"Many people want the city to act.
Although they aren't seeking a
moratorium, they don't want to
lose any more buildings." He said
that the Historical Society's Bob
Salin is working on maps to locate
lots which were improved as early
as 1910 and the state provided a
survey of buildings in the city pri-
or to the ordinance being fash-
ioned. "Now that we have a Long
Range Plan, it's time for the city
to do something," Darley said.
Kramedas noted that the Plan-
ning Commission had sought
Main Street's input on the His-
toric Preservation Ordinance, as
Planning Commission President
Mary Campbell is expected to
come before the Board of Com-
missioners Jan. 10 (tonight) to dis-
cuss the need for historic preser-
vation.
"An historic district is hard to
define in Rehoboth - it's not like
Dover," Darley admitted, "and
trying to get some buildings on
the Historic Register is difficult
because owners are opposed to all
of the rules." Richardson agreed
that many people resist this "con-
stitutional taking of property." He
suggested incentives be offered
for businesses and landlords in
their designing, redesigning, sig-
nage and lighting.
"Maybe we could underwrite
some of the cost if they conform
to our plan. If the incentives are
good enough, the city wouldn't
need a moratorium."
Richardson received general
support from fellow board mem-
bers on support of incentives
rather than legislative restrictions,
although they share the concern
over losing buildings which could
be of historic and aesthetic value.
£owng,Memory- 00ill Degnan
0.) Beloved Husband, Son and Brother
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Loyal Friend
To each person who has reached out in kindness and compassion during
this difficult year. Your words and deeds pay the best tribute to the life
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