Dewey Beach looks to clarify right-of-way haziness
At a Dewey Beach Commissioners meeting on Saturday, Jan. 14, residents argued against the allocation of $15,000 to perform a town survey to determine public right of way boundaries.
The survey, as explained by mayor Dale Cooke, would help address a persistent problem in the community, in which residents are uncertain of their own right of way areas.
"I've talked to one person and they say it's 50 feet, and another will say it's 100 feet," Cooke said. "Both of them swear up and down that they're right."
Right of way is defined as an area of property which can be used for purposes by those other than the landowner. For example, if a public road has a width of 20 feet, but a right of way width of 40 feet, the area ten feet to the left and right of the road would be considered public.
Cooke explained that town boundaries are, at best, sketchy, and at worst entirely unknown.
"We just really don't know where a lot of things are in this town," Cooke said.
In an attempt to resolve the right of way issue, Town Manager Marc Appelbaum presented a plan to spend $15,000 of town funds to perform a basic survey, with no poles or markers placed, to better determine those boundaries within the town.
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"This wouldn't be specific into inches, but give us a general idea of what the boundaries are," Appelbaum said. "And if a dispute ever came up in the future, we could perform the full survey, but at least we'd have a good idea."
Appelbaum said the survey could potentially include Route 1 as well, where the right of way lines are commonly obscured.
Resident and property owner Stephen Spence said that the survey is effectively a waste of money, due to it not placing any poles or markers.
"It's odd to me, it's meaningless to spend $15,000 if there isn't an on the ground project," Spence said. "I don't know what you're getting for that money if there is no product."
Spence also argued that, in the event of a right of way dispute, the survey would provide little guidance toward a resolution.
"You're not going to get much for $15,000, and if there is a dispute, you won't have much to solve it," Spence said.
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Anna Legates, a 36-year resident of Dewey Beach, said the survey is pointless, as the right of ways are clearly defined on the town's website. Specifically, the width is defined as 15 feet on Vista Road, 20 feet on Hayden Road, 25 feet on East Dagsworthy and Dover roads, 50 feet on Buena and Bellevue roads, 80 feet on Bayard Avenue and King Charles Highway and 100 feet on West Dagsworthy and McKinley.
While only general rules, Legates said these numbers are sufficient, as they haven't led to problems in the past.
"What's broken here that we're trying to fix?" Legates asked. "Is there an ulterior motive that we don't understand?"
Appelbaum said the goal is not to create precision guidelines that effectively change the map of the town, or create code violations.
"This is not meant to be precise," Appelbaum said. "We're not going to be fining people over a few inches."
Ultimately, when passed to vote, the commissioners ruled in favor of performing the survey, with commissioner Courtney Riordan as the sole dissenting opinion.
"We're spending all of this money and not getting a hell of a lot," Riordan said. "It's basically symbolic."
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