State planning OKs rezoning request in Rehoboth
The requested rezoning of two properties on Scarborough Avenue Extended in Rehoboth Beach has passed through state review with no issues identified.
The property owners at 1028A and 1028B Scarborough Ave. Ext. have requested their properties be rezoned from C-3 secondary commercial to R-1 residential.
During a Preliminary Land Use Service review March 22, Dorothy Morris, Office of State Planning Coordination principal planner, said her office had no objections to the request. The properties are being used as residential now, she said.
The review took 10 minutes. Lauren Good, a planner who works for city consultant Wallace Montgomery, explained the request on behalf of the city. There are no anticipated changes to the current use of the properties if the rezoning were granted, she said.
Officials from Delaware Department of Transportation, DART, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environment Control, State Fire Marshal's Office and Delaware Emergency Management Agency had no comment on the proposed request. An official from the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs said the application review hadn’t been completed.
The requested change has to go through PLUS review because both properties are currently zoned C-3 commercial on the future land-use map of the city’s recently completed 2020 Comprehensive Development Plan. The state needs to approve the map change before city officials can approve the property rezonings.
Morris did provide a procedural note for when the city moves forward with changing the map and the zoning designation of the residential properties. The city can advertise the public hearings related to both changes for the same meeting, she said. However, the map change must be placed on the agenda first, followed by the specific property request.
The requested rezoning for the Scarborough Avenue Ext. properties came after Rehoboth Auto Repair owners requested a zoning change for their property at 20663 Coastal Highway from C-3 commercial to C-1 commercial so they can build two more mechanic bays. The property on Coastal Highway sits between the existing auto repair shop and the backyard of the Scarborough Avenue Extended properties.
The auto repair shop request did not have to go through PLUS review because it’s already identified as commercial on the CDP’s future land-use map. The map does not differentiate between subcategories of specific building zone designations.
