Commissioner forced to recuse from 330 Rehoboth Ave. hearing
A court-ordered rehearing of a rezoning request at 330 Rehoboth Ave. in Rehoboth Beach took place Nov. 18, and the only thing that really happened is that recently elected Commissioner Suzanne Goode was forced to recuse herself because of comments she made on the rezoning request as a citizen years ago.
The proposed rezoning of a residential portion of 330 Rehoboth Ave. has been on the books since before COVID. The lot is about 42,500 square feet, of which about 23,000 square feet along Rehoboth Avenue is zoned C-1 commercial and about 19,500 square feet along State Road is R-1 residential. The developer, 330 Hospitality, has requested the rezoning of the residential portion so the property as a whole can be redeveloped.
The proposed rezoning had been before the planning commission multiple times, the board of commissioners and two different Delaware courts before it was sent back to city commissioners for a second public hearing.
Attorney Max Walton, serving as interim city solicitor, brought the issue of Goode’s comments forward at the outset of the recent public hearing. He cited a number of different cases where judges had ruled against city councils as a whole and in favor of applicants after the applicant was able to prove a single council member was biased.
Walton said he recognized there are commissioners who previously voted against the rezoning, but they did so as commissioners.
Goode, who was elected in August and sworn in a month later, declined to recuse herself and forced a vote. She argued the comment she made years ago was made from a position of casual involvement, and that she was now much more knowledgeable on the issue. There are also no financial ties to the developer or the construction industry, she said.
In the end, out of an abundance of caution, a majority of the other commissioners voted to remove Goode from the proceedings.
Commissioner Edward Chrzanowski was the only commissioner to vote in favor of allowing Goode to remain. He said he thought it was a slippery slope to go down because Rehoboth is a small town and they’ve all voiced their opinions on issues in the past.
Following the meeting, Goode said she searched the charter and there is no mention of recusal whatsoever. Walton and Mills should have known this, so what they did was illegal and outrageous, she said.
“I have brought the illegality of their actions to their attention,” said Goode. “Hopefully the board will rethink its actions before the public hearing for 330 Hospitality Group reconvenes.”
As for the hearing itself, it was delayed until further notice because the submitted rezoning application didn’t also include a request to change the future land-use map in the city’s comprehensive development plan.
Mayor Stan Mills brought this issue forward. He said he didn’t think the city could move forward with a vote on the request because the application didn’t include a map change request.
At the insistence of Walton, there was a five-minute break for the attorneys in the room to discuss offline the best path forward. At the conclusion of the break, it was determined that pausing the hearing was the thing to do. The pause will allow the attorneys to get on the same page and come back before commissioners with all the questions worked out.
The decision to pause the public hearing came after attorney David Hutt, representing 330 Hospitality, presented his case for rezoning.
Historically speaking, Hutt said the parking lot area of the property has been used as a commercial parking lot for many decades. Additionally, he said, split zoning is generally considered bad policy, which is why there’s not a section of code that provides guidance on how a property is to be developed when it’s split zoned.
There was no date set for when the hearing would resume. Instead, it was left at a date of earliest convenience. Given that the hearing is still ongoing, Walton advised commissioners to not discuss the hearing with anyone.
