|
The potential sale of 667 square feet of city land to two Rehoboth Beach property owners has been put on hold and remanded to the planning commission for further study.
The issue up for debate is not just the price, but whether or not the city should sell land in what may be a city right-of-way.
Jim Johnson and Matt Shepard, owners of lots at 84 Park Ave., want to purchase the land to make their property into a 10,000-square-foot conforming lot that could be subdivided. Johnson and Shepard also own the neighboring 5,000-square-foot property at 82 Park Ave., where they live. Johnson said he and Shepard wanted a 10,000 square foot lot so they could build their dream house and possibly subdivide the property later.
“We’re asking you to permit us to enter into negotiations to buy this strip of land,” he said. “We’re not looking to build a condominium, we’re not looking to put up a 7-11 and we’re not looking to put up McMansions. We’re just simply trying to pursue our dream.”
Johnson and Shepard’s attorney, Chase Brockstedt, said the duo bought 84 Park Ave. six years ago, contingent upon confirmation the lot was a standard 10,000-foot parcel so that if they wished to subdivide the land, they could. Brockstedt said they contacted a surveyor who confirmed the property was conforming. The surveyor is now out of business, he said.
But when Johnson and Shepard submitted plans to building and licensing, asking to move an existing structure on the property, they were told by the city the property was less than 10,000 square feet. The land is 6.7 feet wide along the 10- foot Park Avenue street front.
Johnson and Shepard filed a variance request with the Board of Adjustment but were denied. Brockstedt said the land his clients wished to purchase lies between the city’s right-of-way and the street side boundary of the property. If the city agreed to sell the property, it would still own seven feet of land from the property line to the street.
“We are not trying to disturb, in any way, the right-of-way of Park Avenue. We are trying to purchase land that is outside of the right-of-way,” Brockstedt said.
Commissioner Dennis Barbour asked Brockstedt if the land was not a right-of-way, what is it? Brockstedt said he did not know.
“If the city owns it, what is it? Is it a right-of way? Is it city property?” Barbour said. Barbour said if the property is a right-of-way, under state law, the case must go to the planning commission. He said he was uneasy about making a decision to sell city property until looking into the ramifications of doing so.
Commissioner Paul Kuhns said Johnson and Shepard are in this position through no fault of their own and, as good neighbors, the city should try to work with them to come up with a solution.
“These people are acting in good faith; they’ve been acting in good faith since they bought the property. I have a problem with the city coming back and saying, ‘You’re out of luck,’” Kuhns said.
Barbour said the city does not have a responsibility to sell the land because it was not involved in the faulty survey and the sale of the property.
“I think if you get into this dangerous territory of saying, ‘You know, it just seems to be the right thing to do, we’re all good neighbors and we need to get along,’ then you are opening up the whole process of legislation to a lot of attack,” he said. “At the end of the day, what this is all about is protecting everybody in town. If you try to be very subjective to everybody that comes before the city with an issue, you will ultimately have chaos.”
Mayor Sam Cooper said, “I don’t think the city really needs this 667 square feet but I think the charter of the city is very clear that it’s a right-of-way and it has to be dealt with in a certain way.”
|
