Dewey board approves variance for undersized lot

The Dewey Beach Board of Adjustment voted unanimously Dec. 17, to approve three variance requests from property owners and deny one.

In the longest and most widely participated of the evening’s three public hearings, attorney Glenn Mandalas represented Victoria Petrone and Vincent Dills of 116 Dagsworthy Ave. in their request for two variances from town code: one to permit the construction of a single-family residence to extend 18.8 feet into the property’s required 22-foot front-yard setback, and another for the structure to extend 2 feet into the required 10-foot rear-yard setback.

“As things are going these days, this home that’s being proposed is modest compared to a lot of other construction that’s happening in Dewey Beach,” Mandalas said. 

The exceptional practical difficulty to justify the variances, he argued, arises from the fact that the property is a substantially undersized lot, making it infeasible to improve the property with a residential single-family home consistent with other new home construction in town. 

The 2,239-square-foot lot is less than half the size of the zoning district’s 5,000-square-foot minimum lot size requirement.

The code-compliant option allows for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom home, which Mandalas argued is completely out of character with the rest of the neighborhood. Many of the surrounding houses have multiple floors and are considerably larger than the code-compliant option and larger than the proposed construction.

There was previously a small one-story home on the lot, but it was demolished within the last couple years.

The proposed structure would be built within the established building lines. Its front- and rear-yard setbacks are the same as those of other properties on the street and those observed by the previous home.

Part of what makes the property unique, Mandalas said, is that it has a large right-of-way, with the front property line sitting 40 feet from the edge of the Dagsworthy Avenue pavement. With the variances, the front of the home would be about 43 feet from the edge of the street – almost double the minimum 22-foot setback requirement. 

Residents expressed mixed opinions about the requests.

“I really think we need to have a decent size home there and not a 500-square-foot odd-looking box,” said resident and businessman Alex Pires. “We all look at property values. [...] I think this newer home will be good for our street, good for our neighbors.”

Pires, owner of the Highway One Group, said he does not know the applicants personally but wanted to voice his support for their requests.

On the other hand, Stan Underwood and Stacy Longanecker, who live adjacent to the lot, expressed concern that granting the variances would worsen flooding on their property. They said that flooding has already gotten worse since the previous home was demolished.

Caroline and Craig Longanecker cited similar concerns.

According to Mandalas and Doug Warner of Element Design Group, the proposed structure would only improve the current flooding situation, not worsen it.

After discussion, the board voted to approve the first request, for a variance from the front-yard setback, but to deny the second request for a variance from the rear-yard setback.

The group felt that no exceptional practical difficulty was demonstrated for the latter request.

Final building plans for the property will be reviewed by the town’s building department at a later date. The board is not responsible for approving or denying final building plans.

The other requests

The board heard a request from Mandalas for a variance for 114 Bellevue St. The variance would permit a second-floor addition to extend 4.8 inches into the 22-foot front-yard setback. The addition was designed to comply with the setback, but when it was constructed, the contractor got it slightly wrong, making it slightly encroach.

In another hearing, Doug Warner of Element Design Group spoke about a request for a variance for 4 Seastrand Court, Unit 9. The request would allow the addition of a half-story to a nonconforming townhome with party walls extending into the 8-foot side-yard setback.

The board granted both variances.