City Passes Administrative Grant of Dimensional Variances

At their regular meeting on Friday, December 20, 2019, the commissioners voted unanimously to pass an ordinance to amend Chapter 270 of the Municipal Code inserting new section 270-28 relating to the administrative grant of dimensional variances. Under the ordinance, the building inspector may administratively grant a building setback variance, side yard variance, or rear yard variance that does not exceed 1 foot of the building setback, side yard, and rear yard requirements. Administrative variances may only be granted for existing structures located in the Special Single-Family Residence District (R-1(S)), the Single-Family Residence District (R-1), or the General Residence District (R-2).

Applications for the administrative variance shall include a survey signed and sealed by a surveyor licensed in the State of Delaware, a brief written statement of the administrative variance requested, and a $100 application fee. The Building Inspector shall provide written notice by a certified mailing of the administrative variance application to adjacent property owners and accept written comments for 30 working days from the date of mailing. If any adjacent property owner objects to the administrative variance, the Building Inspector shall refer the application to the Board of Adjustment, and the administrative variance application fee shall be credited to the Board of Adjustment application fee. Within 30 working days, after the administrative variance application is submitted and accepted, the Building Inspector may approve or deny the administrative variance through a written decision. The decision of the Building Inspector shall be governed by the “exceptional practical difficulty” standard applicable to the Board of Adjustment for area variance determinations. The ordinance will take effect on April 1, 2020. All permit applications and plan submittals must adhere to the 2018 IRC and IBC codes.

Please contact the Department of Building & Licensing at 302-227-6181 ext. 222 or [email protected] for further information.