Notes and Votes June 4

This is Krista Brown with Notes and Votes from the most recent Colonial Beach Town Council work session from Wednesday, June 4^th.

Mr. Wood kicked off the session with news from the police department.  Officer Paroski from the Colonial Beach Police Department recently earned certification as a Drug Recognition Expert.  He will be able to conduct detailed evaluations of drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs and alcohol.  Thank you for keeping our community safe!

Short Term Rental (STR) Permits are now due (May 1^st).  Town staff have issued 110 STR permits.  If you operate a short-term rental property, you must have a permit and a current business license.  Staff will be issuing notices of violation to those not in compliance.

Utility bills have been sent and are due July 1^st.  E-billing is available for those interested as both utility and tax bills can be paid online.  If you are having difficulty paying your bills, please contact the finance department for assistance.

Next up was Lease and Pier agreements public hearing.  No one from the public spoke.  Under the new lease proposal, if the town determines there is a material risk to erosion on the shoreline, the town can require the lessee of the pier to conduct shoreline maintenance.  This would be the case for existing and new piers.  Also included is increasing the lease amount to $2000 over five years rather than the existing $1250.

Discussion amongst council ensued and a vote will take place at the regularly scheduled June meeting.

Darla Odom, Interim Director of Community Development and Zoning presented Town Council with a brief overview of the recently discussed increase in Floor to Area Ratio (FAR).  Stakeholders wanted an increase in FAR to satisfy the market demands for their clients.  On May 8^th after public hearing Planning Commission voted unanimously to amend the FAR.

Ms. Odom proposed to not increase the FAR standard, it would continue to be 0.40 but for single family dwellings, an attached garage measuring 24×24 feet maximum, would not count towards FAR.  Also, the definition of FAR would be updated to include defining it as the sum of total areas measured from exterior faces of exterior walls.  There will be a public hearing on FAR at the June 18^th meeting.

Staff recently studied the benefits and drawbacks of utility billing frequencies, specifically monthly or bi-monthly rather than quarterly.  Staff spoke with residents who seemed to prefer quarterly billing and after looking at the costs associated with more frequent billing, staff recommends keeping the billing cycle as is.  Residents, if you would like to pay your utility bills more frequently that quarterly, please contact town hall and they would be happy to help you.

The last portion of the work session was a Capital Improvement Plan workshop with councilmembers prioritizing various improvements for the upcoming 2026 season.  Infrastructure was a priority as usual!

That’s it from Notes & Votes and enjoy another day in paradise!