DEWEY BEACH, Del. - Dewey Beach Commissioners voted unanimously Friday to allow towing of any vehicle parked in a lifeguard parking space, while tabling other decisions involving accommodation tax penalties and business applications on the beach.
Commissioners are looking to establish a new interest rate as penalty for outstanding accommodation tax balances. Town Manager, Bill Zolper, says there are some cases of rental owners pulling their license at the end of the year and re-applying the next year. The rate is currently 10%, but commissioners are leaning toward lowering it to 1.5%, in addition to the $500 non-compliance fine in place. They also touched on the potential for rental owners to petition for a lower interest rate, depending on their revenue.
"It may be that we can attempt to use this approach of, with those letters going out, if this is approved by the commissioners, that it’s $500 for not submitting the amount due to the town...and 1.5% of our estimate...allowing them to come back and show us the actual amount that they collected," a commissioner said.
They tabled the accommodation tax discussion until next month's meeting.
Commissioners also had preliminary discussion on how to move forward with applications for businesses on the beach. Zolper says there are currently several applications for businesses like volleyball and yoga lessons, and even dining. Since they already allow some commerce on the beach, the town wants to proceed with fair policies for approving such businesses. They say they want public feedback on whether people want more businesses on the beach before making decisions.
"Some people look at it as a service, and other people look at it as commercialization in the beach," one commissioner said. "And there needs to be kind of some equity, right? We say 'yes' to one group, then you kind of have to say 'yes to every group.' And I think some people kind of have concerns when they feel like there’s too much, sometimes, commercialization."
There was even talk, in passing, of camel rides on the beach. Zolper said later in his town manager briefing that the proposal was unrealistic for safety and sanitation reasons. They did not say if the matter will be discussed further in future meetings.