• Local Produce
  • Buy Local
  • Local Seafood
  • Local Food
  • Local Music
  • Local Art
  • Local Churches

CAPE CHARLES MIRROR

Reflections on Cape Charles and the Eastern Shore

  • Local Services
  • Local Rentals
  • Local Employment
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Classifieds
  • Pets
  • Contact Us
  • Rant and Rave
  • Asses&Villains

Cape Charles Town Council discusses Accessory Dwelling Units

August 12, 2018 by 1 Comment

After almost six years of working and reworking the language, Cape Charles is inching closer to having an ordinance on the books that will allow for the conditional use for accessory dwelling units.

Town Council met Thursday for a work session that attempted to nail down the last strands of the ordinance. Cela Burge noted that there were already several units and cottages in town, and questioned whether they would be grandfathered as a secondary use to primary use (home). Planner DiRe said they could if they had been in use within the prior two years.

The fees associated with accessory dwellings is still a sticking point. Paul Grossman questioned if the water connections ran through the main home to the secondary dwelling, would there be one or two bills. The consensus at this time is that there will be one bill, to be handled by the primary residence. Separate hookups would incur connection fees, however, there was a debate on whether the fee should be graduated or the full amount.

Council appeared to be in agreement that affordable workforce housing was the primary goal, “That’s what we should be looking at. And, how can we incentivize this, kind of like how we do it in the tourism zone,” Andy Buchholz said. While reducing fees as a way to get people to either build or adaptively re-use a structure was discussed, no consensus was reached.

Larry DiRe noted that at the top end, he would not expect to see more than twenty-four units accepted for secondary use.

Town Council will be discussing this more at next Thursday’s Regular Meeting, where accessory dwelling is expected to be on the agenda as an action item.

Town Staff provided this information:

In brief the proposed text amendments state the following: 1) accessory dwelling units are a conditional use, not a by right use; 2) accessory dwelling units must be part of an accessory building; 3) accessory dwelling units may have a separate water\sewer\trash account from the main structure and are billed accordingly; 4) accessory dwelling units have a separate entrance from the accessory building’s entrance; 5) accessory dwelling units must meet all building, fire, and residential code requirements. The following specifics should be remembered as well:
• Accessory dwelling units are not synonymous with tiny houses, all dwelling units are still by way of “accessory” use to a garage,
workshop, or other secondary use of the main structure residential dwelling.
• Accessory dwelling units are by conditional use only and need to meet all zoning ordinance requirements of a conditional use.
• Accessory dwelling units must conform to all relevant building, fire, and property maintenance code regulations.
• Accessory dwelling units are not short-term rentals and length of stay period for occupants aligns with the terms identified in the
Town’s current transient occupancy tax and building code regulations.
• Water\sewer\trash monthly fee – All accessory dwelling units shall be billed as a water\sewer\trash account separate from the
account for the main structure and shall pay the minimum monthly account fee as set by Town Council.
• Water meter option – An accessory dwelling unit may have a separate water meter from that of the main structure upon request
by the property owner. If so requested the property owner shall pay all water and sewer utility connection fees as set by Town
Council. Metered accessory dwelling units will receive a water\sewer bill based on the metered use, but not less than the minimum
monthly account fee.
• Trash can – All accessory dwelling units shall have a separate trash can provided by the contract waste disposal company.
• Inspections – All accessory dwelling units shall be inspected annually not later than fifteen (15) days from the anniversary date of
the conditional use permit being approved by Town Council.

Filed Under: Bottom, News

Comments

  1. Dave says

    August 12, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    Wow! Looks like Ms Octavia-Cortez thinking has permeated the Town Council. Why not leave our citizens alone to make a little income from their properties. Do we really need government to regulate every breath we take? For a council that is considering not showing up for meetings this seems a bit over reaching. Why not concentrate on real progress like building a bath house on the north end of the beach so we don’t have the transients crapping on the beach and experiencing all the beach closures for health reasons?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscribe to the Mirror

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,392 other subscribers

Join the Conversation!

Send letters, opinion, goings on or photos to capecharlesmirror@gmail.com

Mirrors

Recent Comments

  • Paul Plante on Cape Charles will start towing away boats and big Rec vehicles on May 1st
  • D. Luther on Cape Charles will start towing away boats and big Rec vehicles on May 1st
  • Paul Plante on Asses&Villains: March 26 2023
  • Charles on Bay Creek offers New Home Plan Book
  • Paul Plante on Cape Charles will start towing away boats and big Rec vehicles on May 1st
  • Scrapple Buffet on Cape Charles will start towing away boats and big Rec vehicles on May 1st
  • Paul Plante on Asses&Villains: March 26 2023
  • Paul Plante on Bond Market Panic — Your Money
  • Paul Plante on Asses&Villains: March 26 2023
  • Paul Plante on Bond Market Panic — Your Money
  • Paul Plante on Cape Charles will start towing away boats and big Rec vehicles on May 1st
  • Scrapple Buffet on Cape Charles will start towing away boats and big Rec vehicles on May 1st
  • D. Luther on The Town Cannot Amend the Annexation Agreement
  • Paul Plante on Bond Market Panic — Your Money
  • Paul Plante on Is the Credit Crunch Going to be Worse than we thought?
  • Paul Plante on What will the FED rate increase do to your credit card bills?
  • Paul Plante on History Notes Special: US Debt Default of 1932
  • Paul Plante on Asses&Villains: March 26 2023
  • Paul Plante on Kiggans Votes to Empower Parents, Children in the Classroom
  • Greg Parks on The Rich Continue to Destroy the Working Class

Trending Now

  • Cape Charles will start towing away boats and big Rec vehicles on May 1st
  • Kiptopeke Studio Apartments Now Open
  • The Town Cannot Amend the Annexation Agreement
  • Op-Ed: Compare George Orwell's 1984 to Society Today
  • Bay Creek offers New Home Plan Book
  • List Of Clinton Associates Who Allegedly Died Mysteriously Or Committed Suicide Before Testimony
  • Re-visiting Cape Charles Assets
  • Maryland takes aim at Invasive Fish Species
  • Shore Native Skylar Demarino Drops New Single
  • VDOT Begins Sweeping Mason Ave March 27

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in