The Mayor and City Council find and determine as follows:
A. Residential dwellings have long been used for short-term and long-term
rental purposes and are an important part of the local tourism economy;
however, short-term rental uses may have adverse impacts that can
best be addressed through appropriate regulations.
B. The regulation of residential rentals, including the differentiation between short-term and long-term rentals, will help preserve and protect the City's neighborhoods, provide standards and procedures for residential rentals, educate prospective short-term renters on City regulations and expected behaviors, and support the City's core values established in City Code §
197-3.
C. The purpose of this chapter is to establish licensing requirement
and regulations for use of residential rentals thereby enabling the
City to preserve the public health, safety, and welfare.
D. This chapter does not regulate hotels, motels, inns, and bed-and-breakfasts, as defined herein and in City Code Chapter
197, Zoning.
For purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
BEDROOM
A room or space designed to be used for sleeping purposes
with two means of egress (one of which may be a window that meets
egress requirements of the currently enforced edition of the International
Residential Code). Spaces used for eating or cooking, bathrooms, toilet
rooms, closets, halls, storage or utility rooms and similar uses are
not considered bedrooms.
COMMERCIAL/FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY
An activity or occurrence primarily for the exchange of goods
or services for financial gain or for seeking financial support for
a charity, cause, or organization, including, but not limited to,
the sale of merchandise, food or beverages, parties, weddings, paid
performances, and any other similar activity.
DWELLING UNIT
A group of rooms located within a building and forming a single independent habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended to be used for and having permanent provisions for living, sleeping, sanitation, cooking, and eating purposes. A dwelling unit, however, shall not include a bed-and-breakfast, cabin court, hotel or motel, and lodging house as those terms are defined and regulated under the City Code, Chapter
197, Zoning Ordinance.
GOOD NEIGHBOR BROCHURE
A document prepared by the City that summarizes the general
rules of conduct, consideration, and respect, including without limitation,
provisions of the Municipal Code of the City of Lewes, Delaware, applicable
to renters and residents of the City.
LICENSE HOLDER
The person who applies for and receives a short-term or long-term
rental license from the City of Lewes. A license holder is the owner
of the dwelling unit where the rental is located.
LOCAL CONTACT
The individual designated by the license holder to meet or
satisfy obligations under this chapter and to serve as the contact
person for issues relating to a rental. The designated contact must
be available 24 hours a day to accept telephone calls from the City
and, if requested by the City, respond physically to the rental within
a reasonable time period, not to exceed two hours when the rental
is rented and occupied.
LONG-TERM RENTAL
All or any portion thereof of a residential dwelling unit
used as a place regularly rented for dwelling, lodging, or sleeping
purposes to one party with a duration of occupancy of greater than
30 consecutive days. Hotels, motels, and other land uses explicitly
defined and regulated in this chapter separately from long-term rentals
are not considered to be long-term rentals.
MAXIMUM OCCUPANCY
The maximum number of allowable overnight occupants for a rental, as established in §
150-5, Short-term rental standards, of this chapter.
NEIGHBORS
The owners and occupants of property that are contiguous
to the premises on which the rental is located and the property that
is separated from the premises on which the rental is located by a
public or private road. For the purpose of this definition, a property
is separated from the premises on which the rental is located by a
public or private road if any portion of the property, as measured
between the property's side lot lines as extended to the center
of the road, is contiguous with the premises on which the rental is
located, as measured between the premises' side lot lines as
extended to the center of the road.
OCCUPANCY LIMIT
The overnight occupancy of a residential rental shall not
exceed the sum of two persons per bedroom plus an additional two persons.
Children 12 years of age and younger shall not be counted towards
the overall number of occupants.
OCCUPANT
An individual living in, sleeping in, or otherwise having
possession of a rental.
OWNER
Any person holding legal or equitable title to a property
or to real improvements upon a property solely, jointly, by the entireties,
in common, or as a land contract vendee.
PERSON
An individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership,
limited-liability company, or other legal entity.
PREMISES
A lot, parcel, tract, or plot of land together with the buildings
and structures on them.
PROPERTY
Land, firmly attached structures, and integrated equipment
(such as light fixtures or a well pump), and anything growing on the
land.
SHORT-TERM RENTAL
All or any portion thereof of a residential dwelling unit
which is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly
rented for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes to one party with
a duration of occupancy of 30 consecutive days or less. Hotels, motels,
and other land uses explicitly defined and regulated in this chapter
separately from short-term rentals are not considered to be short-term
rentals.
VIOLATION
A written notice issued by the Planning and Building Department
advising the license holder and/or the local agent of a violation
of this chapter.