Rehoboth planners approve Oak Avenue partitioning

The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission approved a partitioning request for a large lot in the ocean block of Oak Avenue, but not before it scolded the property owner about the unkempt, overgrown state of the property.

Owner Thomas H.B. Dunning won approval, on a 5-2 vote, to divide the lot at 2 Oak Ave. into two lots – one lot of 5,056 square feet, the other of 5,052 square feet. Brush and trees that have taken over the lot easily distinguish the property from others on the block. The commission’s approval was subject to the removal of the house, which is in noticeably bad shape.

Building inspector Terri Sullivan said Dunning has told her the property will be cleaned up by the end of the week. She said the house would also be demolished, although Dunning has not applied for a demolition permit yet. He has six months to apply.

At the commission’s Aug. 12 meeting, Chairman Preston Littleton said neighbors and nearby property owners had asked the commission to approve the partitioning, if for no other reason, to get the property cleaned up.

“That property needs to be cleaned up tomorrow. I am so leery of the owner, who has allowed the property to get into this condition. The neighbors cannot suffer as they have suffered next to this property,” he said.

Littleton read a passage from the city code that lays out one of the commission’s duties: to promote the public health, safety and convenience and the general welfare of the city. “If there’s anything a piece of property is absolutely not doing, it’s this piece of property,” he said.

“As a chair I cannot be more strongly affronted by how that piece of property looks. And it should have been attended to a long time ago,” Littleton said.

Commissioner Jan Konesey described the property as “a public restroom.”

The commission has spent several meetings reviewing conflicting surveys on the property.

In 1978, neighbors at the time shifted lot lines to reflect the fence lines, but they did not go through the city for approval. A survey by Wingate and Eschenbach in 1978 reflected the changes; since that time, changes to the 2 Oak Ave. property and the adjacent property have all reflected the 1978 survey. That survey, along with the most recent survey by Simpler Associates, reflects 100 feet of frontage on the 2 Oak Ave. lot.

However, a survey done in between those surveys showed the property had less than 100 feet of frontage on the lot. Littleton said the difference was a matter of inches. In order to be approved for a partitioning, a lot must have 100 feet of frontage on a street.

Konesey and Commissioner Harvey Shulman, who both voted against the partitioning, wanted the case to go before the board of adjustment for a variance.

James Fuqua, attorney for the owner asked Konesey, “If I went to the board of adjustment, what would I be asking for?”

Shulman said he was troubled by an apparent shifting of lot lines back in 1978, and Littleton also said he was concerned about the legitimacy of the 1978 survey, although he was comfortable with the current survey.

Shulman moved to deny the motion, but the commission voted 5-1 against the motion, with Konesey abstaining.

The commission then voted to approve the partitioning, with the majority of the commissioners’ saying the partitioning met current standards, and the most recent survey is accurate.

Shulman, however, noted, “This is going to bite us.”