ENWICK ISLAND – Officials in Fenwick Island last week agreed to refer a moratorium on hotel construction to a town committee.
Last Friday, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted unanimously to refer a 15-month moratorium on hotel construction to the Charter and Ordinance Committee for discussion.
“My thought is we need to go ahead and do something,” Councilwoman Vicki Carmean said.
In February of 2016, the town council voted to establish a moratorium on new hotel construction following an extensive debate regarding the former Sands Motel. Developer Spiro Buas purchased the motel – located on Coastal Highway – with plans to demolish the building and construct a new, upscale hotel in its place.
In doing so, he proposed an ordinance change to the town code that would allow for one motel room per 600 square feet instead of one motel room every 1,000 square feet, allowing the Sands to expand from 38 rooms to 65 rooms.
Despite outcry from nearby residents, the council at the time voted 5-2 to approve the ordinance. However, a two-year moratorium on new hotel and motel construction was also suggested until the town’s comprehensive plan was implemented. As part of the moratorium, the town would not issue permits, licenses or other approvals involving new motel and hotel uses.
In February of 2018, the council voted to extend the moratorium another two years while the town’s stakeholders considered the impacts of a new hotel in Fenwick Island.
Carmean told the council this week that the moratorium had expired three months ago without any action taken from the town council to extend the temporary ban. After a discussion with Mayor Gene Langan, she proposed bringing the issue of drafting another moratorium to the town’s Charter and Ordinance Committee.
“Gene and I talked about this and he thought we could just vote to extend it,” she said, “but unfortunately the moratorium has lapsed, and I don’t know if it’s going to be legal just to say ‘Let’s extend it.’”
Carmean added that she didn’t want to impose a new moratorium on hotel construction without first hearing recommendations from the Ad Hoc Commercial District Planning Committee, which was established to create design guidelines and recommended changes to the town’s zoning code with the goal of achieving a more desirable look for the town’s commercial district as it develops.
Councilman Richard Mais, chair of the committee, agreed.
“We were just ready to come to the council and the public with some of our thoughts … and then the virus started,” he said. “It didn’t seem to be urgent to try and do those sorts of things virtually.”
Councilman Bill Weistling, chair of the Charter and Ordinance Committee, said the moratorium issue would go before the committee on June 5 for discussion. A new moratorium would then be presented to the town council for first reading next month.
He suggested a 15-month moratorium on new hotel construction so the town could better evaluate the impact the Sands Motel project would have on the community.
With no further discussion, the council voted 7-0 to move the subject to the Charter and Ordinance Committee.
“Nobody has any idea what impact a big hotel will have on the community, and maybe we need to wait and see what is happening there before we allow more hotels and motels,” Carmean said.
