Partitioning saves century-old house in Rehoboth

The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission unanimously approved the partitioning of a lot during a meeting March 8 that paves the way for saving a 100-year-old house at 40 Park Ave.

The house was constructed in 1926 and was used as a hunting lodge by the original owner until it was purchased by the current owners more than 50 years ago. The house sits on a 100-by-100-foot lot. The owners want to rotate the house 90 degrees and subdivide the lot into two 50-by-100-foot lots.

This was the second time the applicants went before a city commission or board in an effort to save the house. About a year ago, during a hearing in March, the board of adjustment approved a variance allowing for the western edge of the house to be 0.7 feet into a side-yard setback after the rotation of the structure occurred. The rotation will also preserve most of the old trees on the property.

The planning commission set one condition as part of approval: the property owners have to remove an indoor shower from an old shed in the back corner of the lot because the shower is not code compliant.

Other applications 

The planning commission approved the consolidation and partitioning of two parcels at 6 St. Lawrence St. There had been a structure on the house across the property lines, but that was recently demolished. Combined, the two lots were 100 feet wide by 100 feet deep, which would allow for two code-compliant lots measuring 50 feet wide by 100 feet deep.

The planning commission conducted a preliminary hearing for a partitioning request at 10 Columbia Ave. According to the applicant’s attorney Fred Townsend, the request had been approved by former City Manager Sharon Lynne in 2022, when it was an administrative approval process. However, he said that approval expired because both owners became infirm.

Townsend said an application was resubmitted in August 2023, but former City Manager Laurence Christian was hesitant to grant the approval knowing city commissioners were in the process of revising code related to the lot consolidation and partitioning process. A month later, city commissioners repealed that section of code.

The planning commission discussed the request, but it was limited and ultimately moved forward for a public hearing at a later date. 

Finally, the planning commission conducted a public hearing related to the partitioning at 54 Kent St. Similar to 40 Park Ave., the applicants for this property have also received a variance from the board of adjustment. In late November, the board approved a variance allowing for an encroachment ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 feet, or 12.88 square feet, into the eastern side-yard setback.

About midway through the hearing on this application, the planning commission asked the applicant’s attorney Vince Robertson, who was also the attorney for the 40 Park Ave. application, about a 1986 board of adjustment decision saying the lot can’t be partitioned. The applicant’s attorney said he wasn’t aware of any prior decisions related to the property. Ultimately, and after some back and forth between the applicant’s attorney and the commission, the commission decided to table the issue until the applicant had time to review the decision from 1986. The expectation is that the hearing will resume at the planning commission’s meeting in April.