The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission took up the issue of a legally abandoning a section of Baltimore Avenue and, as could have been predicted, voiced some frustrations about the city’s predicament.

Rehoboth Beach officials have been working toward a new home for lifeguards and the city’s northernmost Boardwalk bathrooms for years. The portion of street being abandoned will be used for a new, larger building. Construction was expected to have started soon after Labor Day, but members of the public called out to the city for not following proper procedure laid out in the city charter and state code.

State code requires the planning commission to issue a report on a proposed abandonment prior to the city commissioners conducting a public hearing on the subject.

Planning commissioner Susan Gay said the city presented the current plans over a year ago, and the most important detail was always left out. Not one word was ever said about how the footprint of the new building goes into the existing street, she said. 

“We didn’t know the abandonment would need to happen,” said Gay.

City officials and solicitor Glenn Mandalas said previously they were unaware of the section of state code requiring the report and that, as far as they could tell, it had never been used.

Planning Commissioner Julie Davis questioned how that could be, because in 2008, the city had held similar proceedings for an abandonment issue on Park Avenue. Mandalas was the city attorney at the time, she said. All she did to find that it had been used was search the section of code – 22 Del.C. §708 – in the city’s search engine. It came up almost immediately, she said.

“It’s totally inaccurate to say it’s never been used,” said Davis.

Following the meeting, Mandalas declined to comment on Davis’ remarks.

“I’m above it and prefer to spend my time on more productive activities,” said Mandalas in an email Oct. 8.

Mayor Stan Mills said Davis’ assessments of the situation are valid.

“We need to do better, a lot better, monitoring and implementing applicable city charter and code and also state code requirements, especially as the current situation highlights the unnecessary frustrations and costs to the city in delays in time and project costs,” said Mills in an email Oct. 9.

Most of the discussion at the planning commission meeting was about the topic of the proposed abandonment and life-safety issues.

Payton Bridge, a senior architect at Davis, Bowen & Friedel, discussed the details of the proposed abandonment. Baltimore Avenue is a little more than 74 feet wide at its easterly end. The area for the section the city is proposing to take over is a little less than 65 feet. The area of the section of street proposed to be abandoned is about 3,850 square feet in size. There are two handicap spots incorporated into the design. The fire hydrant now located behind the current building would be moved to the northern side of the street. The site is taking up more space on Baltimore Avenue to accommodate an appropriate slope for the handicap ramp.

Nick Walls, a planner for the city’s planning contractor Wallace Montgomery, said the street area for all of Baltimore Avenue’s first block is about 58,800 square feet.

Planning Commissioner Michael Strange, an engineer and a former volunteer fireman, voiced concerns about a triangular piece of the abandonment because it could limit access for emergency vehicles at that end of the street. He questioned if the handicap spots need to be next to the building and if using something other than ramps was explored.

Bridge said that section of the project is required because it protects the two handicap spots. Other than the ramps, the only option is lifts, which he doesn’t think would work well, he said.

Gay also pointed out that city code requires a specific number of fire lanes on the street.

Public Works Director Kevin Williams said he didn’t know the specifics off the top of his head, but code would be adjusted as needed to make sure requirements are being adhered to.

Attorney Vince Robertson, representing the owners of a proposed hotel called One Rehoboth that faces the Boardwalk and spans from Rehoboth Avenue to Baltimore Avenue, said he and his clients have met with the city a number of times, and they’re satisfied with the plans as proposed.

However, Admiral Hotel co-owner Chad Moore said he has concerns with life-safety issues due to congestion already existing at the end of the street. During the summer, there’s hardly a time when there’s not an 18-wheeler unloading something, he said, adding that his insurance company is requesting letters from the city and the fire marshal saying the proposed abandonment still provides the necessary area for emergency services to be provided.

Former Mayor Sam Cooper said he also has concerns that the proposed abandonment will reduce the required street frontage on Baltimore Avenue for the One Rehoboth project, decreasing it from 50 feet to 22 feet.

The planning commission directed its attorney, Luke Mette, to summarize the discussion into a report for its review at its next meeting, which is set for Thursday, Nov. 2, when the commission will review the report and possibly send it to city commissioners.