FENWICK ISLAND – A two-year moratorium on new hotel construction will go into effect after the town council voted unanimously to a resolution last week.
Last Friday, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted 7-0 to approve on second reading an ordinance that would reestablish a two-year moratorium on the issuance of permits or licenses related to new hotel or motel construction after a previous moratorium expired in February.
“The Town Council finds that it is necessary and appropriate to re-establish the moratorium imposed by the Original Ordinance, as additional review and discussion is necessary to determine whether or not an expansion of the total number of motel/hotel uses in the Town would create a positive or negative impact on the Town’s infrastructure, the Town’s economy, the Town’s commercial district, the Town’s residents and/or the Town’s property owners,” the new ordinance reads.
In 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 – in 2015 with plans to 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 feet instead of one motel room per 1,000 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 put forward.
As part of the moratorium, the town would not issue permits, licenses or other approvals involving new hotel and motel uses. And in February of 2018, the council voted to extend its ban on hotel construction another two years while the town considered the impacts of the new hotel on Fenwick Island.
Since the moratorium expired in February without any action from the town council, a discussion on issuing a new moratorium was deferred to the Fenwick Island Charter and Ordinance Committee.
Last month, the committee agreed to forward a two-year moratorium to the council with a favorable recommendation. And in early July, the council voted to approve the ordinance on first reading.
“The C&O committee unanimously agreed to make it a two-year moratorium,” said Councilman Bill Weistling, chair of the committee. “We figured that timeframe would give us enough time to see how the hotel does – both the positive impacts and the negative impacts – by next fall.”
