Developer plans 63-unit housing project in Rehoboth

An overlooked shopping center off Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach could soon be transformed into a new, 63-unit housing development.

According to plans filed with Rehoboth’s building and licensing department, the Rehoboth Beach Plaza, which houses All Saints' Thrift Shop, Wingate and Eschenbach surveyors and the Shell We Bounce children’s play center and a large parking lot, would instead offer 58-single family units and five multifamily units.

Building inspector Dam Molina said the 7.75-acre parcel is zoned C-1 commercial and plans do not call for subdividing the property, so the property would not be subject to Rehoboth's subdivision process.

However, as a large-scale development, the plans will be subject to the city’s site-plan review process, which allows planning commission and public input.

Molina said because the project is presented as a site plan and not a subdivision, his office can only ensure that the project complies with the zoning code and meets city standards regarding water and sewer.

The plans call for building the homes all on one parcel, which is allowable under city code because the land is zoned commercial.  Issues such as setbacks, trees, street width and lot coverage would be taken up by the planning commission during its site-plan review process, Molina said.

While the parcel fronts Route 1 on the Forgotten Mile, most of the land sits within the city’s border. Molina said a quarter of an acre is within Sussex County and is zoned medium-residential; the remaining 7.5 acres is in Rehoboth and is zoned C-1 commercial. Molina said the project is permitted under both zoning classifications.

Molina said plans include a 20-foot-wide cartway, which he said is similar to the width of a private driveway. The plans filed with the building and licensing office show the multifamily units facing Route 1, with the single-family homes set back from the highway.

Property owner Keith Monigle was not available for comment.

Brad Wingate of Wingate and Eschenbach said he has not been informed of any plans for the property although he suspects the company will have to leave.

Planning commission Chairman David Mellon said the earliest the planning commission can take up the project is November. He said the commission offered to have Monigle come in for an informal sketch review of the project, but that idea was turned down.

“So be it. It’s not mandatory,” Mellon said.

He said if the project had come in as a major subdivision, the commission would have defined guidelines to review the project on matters such as floor-to-area ratio, lot sizes and open space.

But since the project is not a major subdivision, the commission will have to use the less detailed standards of the site plan review ordinance, which mandates the commission ensure the development protects the health, safety and welfare of the city, Mellon said. Under that, he said, the commission could impose similar standards to a major subdivision related to the size of the cartway, which as proposed is only half the width of the 40-foot wide minimum for city roads. Mellon said the commission would want to ensure that fire trucks and trash trucks would be able to access the housing units.

Mellon said he believes the developers chose this route to maximize density.

Formerly known as the Baymart property for the store that was once there, the future of the property was brought up during the 2010 revision of the comprehensive development plan.

Then-chairman Preston Littleton mentioned the property as one of the largest potential residential pieces of land in the city, with the other being the Rehoboth Elementary School property. The latter was soon protected by zoning, via a newly created Educational-Residential zone, which specified open space and Silver Lake shoreline protection requirements should the school ever be redeveloped for residential purposes.

Mellon said the only other large parcel within the city that could be redeveloped is the Walls Apartments property on Scarborough Avenue.