Bethany Beach News

It has been nearly four years since AT&T first filed an application for a special-use exception that would allow the company to erect a 100-foot-tall cell-phone tower on property just outside Bethany Beach Town limits, on the east side of Route 1 behind the Arby’s and gas station.

Route 26 roadwork will be waking up earlier this month. Lane closures will continue for two more weeks for utility work but will begin at 5 a.m. daily, and there will be no lane closures on weekends.

This summer, the South Coastal Library in Bethany Beach will be offering a new program designed to help identify children in the event that they are ever lost.

Local builder Marnie Oursler was recently recognized with Girls Inc.’s Strong, Smart, Bold Award at Delaware’s 24th annual awards event. Girls Inc. is a national network of nonprofit organizations with a goal of teaching girls independence and resilience through a wide range of interactive and educational programming.

While recent weeks have been filled with feedback and commentary from Bethany Beach citizens regarding proposed zoning amendments, council members at their May 17 council meeting adopted all but one of the amendments unanimously, and with little additional comment from those present at the meeting.

With the arrival of another summer season in the area’s resort towns also come a number of changes, both from the winter months and from how visitors to the area may remember things being last summer.

The end is near for Route 26 lane closures, but further away than was planned and many had hoped. The Delaware Department of Transportation has now given utilities and road crews permission to continue closing lanes on Atlantic Avenue until June 30. The original end date for the work was May 15.

Bethany Beach officials last week continued their discussion of proposed breaks for non-profits on building fees the Town charges, tailoring their previous workshop discussion down to a few ideas that could become town policy.

The Town of Bethany Beach, with the help of the officers and members of VFW Post 7234 in Ocean View, will host a Memorial Day service on Monday, May 27, at noon at the boardwalk bandstand.

Operation SEAs the DAY is still looking for homeowners who would like to donate their beach homes for a week of rest and relaxation for wounded veterans affiliated with the USO Metropolitan Washington and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and their immediate families, for the week of Sept. 3-8.

Artists from across the country are coming to Bethany Beach boardwalk to showcase their skills at the annual Bethany Beach Seaside Craft Show on Saturday, June 1. Now in its ninth year, the juried fine crafts show pairs its artwork and craftsmanship with a beautiful seascape from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. Artists submit an application in the wintertime, and more than 100 craftspeople were accepted to display their work in the June sunshine this year.

Bethany Beach officials this week were looking forward to the completion of the first phase of the town’s Streetscape project, which was held over a week or so longer than originally hoped, due to weather delays and the belated discovery of water pipes that weren’t where they were supposed to be.

Bethany Beach Town Council members were set this week to discuss and potentially vote on a series of proposed zoning amendments that have been met with opposition from some property owners in the town. The council has on its May 17 agenda all but one of the amendments, opting to not yet put up for a vote what might be the most controversial element of the package — the proposed rezoning of two residential-zoned parcels to commercial zoning in a nod to their existing and proposed uses.

Developer Jack Burbage was reaching out this week to offer what he says is a more accurate picture — literally and figuratively — of the hotel project he’s trying to bring to downtown Bethany Beach, where it would replace the longtime Bethany Arms Motel.

Last week, the Bethany-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce announced that Kristie Maravalli would become its new director of membership.

The 25th annual CROP Walk will be held this Saturday in Bethany Beach, starting at the bandstand at 11 a.m. The event will kick off with the Nautical Sounds providing entertainment. The actual walk starts at noon, and afterwards there will be refreshments offered at Bethany Beach Christian Church downtown.

Exactly six months after Hurricane Sandy scrubbed the East Coast, replacing basements and roadways with floodwater and debris, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is poised to rebuild Delaware’s Atlantic shoreline.

Last week, the Delaware Attorney General’s office announced that an investigation of Bethany Beach Police Department Lt. Richard Haden by its Criminal Investigations Unit had resulted in his arrest.

The Delaware State Police are seeking the public’s help regarding an incident in which a large rock was thrown through a car window north of Bethany Beach, injuring a 22-year-old woman.

In America, “poor” is relative. It can be easy to take for granted the simple things in life, such as water, when it is abundant in a seemingly endless flow. But, for people across the globe, access to clean water is still an uphill battle and poverty has a whole different meaning.