COUNCIL COMMITTEES

The Council Committees Meeting was held on March 25, 1996 at 6:30 p.m., with Council President Christiansen presiding. Members of Council present were Mr. Lambert, Mr. Tudor, Mr. Leary, Mr. Pitts, Mrs. Malone, Mr. Fenimore, Mr. Salters, Mr. Hare and Mayor Hutchison.

AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS

Mr. Salters moved for approval of the agenda, seconded by Mr. Pitts and unanimously carried.

LEGISLATIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE

The Legislative and Finance Committee met with Chairman Salters presiding. Members present were Councilmen Leary and Hare (arrived at 6:50 p.m.) and Mr. William Schaefer and Mr. James Washington.

REVIEW OF CITY CODE - CHAPTERS 19 - 20

Chapter 19, Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places

Article I - In General - Section 19-6.1, Placement of Canopies and Awnings within City Rights-of-Way - Subsection (c), Approval Required; Application and Subsection (d), Granting Approval; Conditions

The proposed amendment simplifies the approval process by allowing requests for placement of canopies and awnings within City rights-of-way to be reviewed by the Planning Department and approved by the City Manager. This authority formerly rested with City Council and the Planning Commission.

Referring to the deletion of Section 19-6.1, Subsection (d) in its entirety, Mr. Washington asked if this includes deletion of the subsections of paragraph (d). Mr. DePrima explained that it is intended that only paragraph (d) be deleted and that subsections one through four under paragraph (d) remain as currently written.

Article IV, Sidewalk Specifications - Section 19-59, Construction Materials

The proposed amendment relates to the proposed material used for sidewalks and allows the Planning Commission to waive the use of certain materials, to be consistent with zoning ordinances.

Article VII, Numbering of Buildings - Section 19-114, Duty to Post Numbers and Section 19-115, Enforcement

The Fire Standards Committee recommended amendments to Section 19-114 and Section 19-115 of the Dover Code. The amendment replaces and improves the current house numbering ordinance by increasing the size of numerals from three inches in height to four inches for residential property and six inches for larger apartment, commercial and industrial buildings. The amendments also provide guidelines on locations and requires contrasting colors. The ordinance causes the failure to properly place numbers on a property to be a violation of the City Code and authorizes the City Manager or his appointee to place numbers on a property and charge the cost to the owner of the property if the owner does not do so in thirty (30) days.

Mr. Leary moved to recommend approval of the proposed amendments as recommended by staff (Attachments #1-#3), seconded by Mr. Washington and unanimously carried.

Chapter 19.5 - Taxation

Article II, Valuation of Land Used for Agricultural, Forest, Etc., Purposes - Section 19.5-17(d), Assessment Procedures (Farmland Rollback)

The Delaware Code was recently modified through H.B. #189 to lengthen the number of years that roll-back taxes can be collected on exempt farmland converted to other uses. The proposed ordinance amendment will allow the City of Dover to continue mirroring the Delaware Code and enable the collection of the extended roll-back tax schedule. Mr. Lucas explained that the City's current ordinance permits a roll-back of five years of taxes on farmland that is converted to other uses. The proposed amendment lengthens the period of time to ten years, one year at a time, until the year 2000 when the full roll-back of ten years will occur.

Answering questions on the reason for the amendment, Mr. Lucas stated that the amendment is an attempt to slow down conversions of farmland to other uses. He explained that the roll-back is based upon the value of the sale price of the farmland. Mr. Tudor felt it unfair to utilize the current sale value to determine the assessment value for the roll-back of taxes for a period covering the ten prior years, stating that the value of the land would be more today than it was 10 years ago. Mr. Lucas stated that although we use the current sale price to calculate the tax, the tax is calculated based upon the tax rate in effect for each of the 10 years.

Mr. Leary moved to recommend adoption of the proposed ordinance amendment as recommended by staff (Attachment #4), seconded by Mr. Schaefer and unanimously carried.

Article III, Realty Transfer Tax - Section 19.5-19, Definitions

The City of Dover created a realty transfer tax in 1988 and the ordinance was patterned after the State of Delaware legislation for realty transfer tax. Since 1988, the State has made minor changes in the transfer tax law. The Tax Assessor recommended approval of amendments to Section 19.5-19 in order to maintain continuity with the State transfer tax laws and to make interpretation and compliance easier for everyone involved.

Mr. Leary moved to recommend adoption of the proposed amendment to Section 19.5-19 (Attachment #5), seconded by Mr. Schaefer and unanimously carried.

Mr. Salters moved for adjournment, seconded by Mr. Leary and unanimously carried.

Meeting Adjourned at 7:00 P.M.

                                                                                    Respectfully submitted,

                                                                                    Robin R. Christiansen

                                                                                    Council President

RRC/DJB