Judge asks for settlement talks in Terrace Road suit
A lawsuit between neighbors on Terrace Road in Rehoboth Beach could be heading for trial if the parties are unable to come to a settlement agreement by Wednesday, May 6.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Andrea Roccanelli has scheduled a hearing and office conference on that date to hear oral arguments on motions to dismiss, address how disputed claims would be addressed at trial, and establish a trial schedule. Roccanelli has ordered the parties to engage in good-faith settlement discussions until then, with a settlement conference set for March 27.
Disputed boundary lines lie at the heart of the suit between landowners Martha Dell Finlator and Alice Robinson. Some Terrace Road neighbors and Robinson’s children are also named in the suit.
Two surveys showed the boundary lines measured from different places. One survey was measured from a concrete post in Silver Lake. Another survey, completed on behalf of Robinson, measured from a similar post on land. Finlator is seeking a court ruling determining where the correct boundary line is.
The strip of land on the north side of Terrace Road has been in the prominent Robinson family for generations: J.T. Robinson created the original subdivision for his three children, including Robert Robinson Sr., former publisher of the Sussex Countian newspaper, who died in 2017. In 1929, some of the land was subdivided into what became known as Silver Lake Shores with lots being sold to other landowners.
After his death, Robinson Sr.’s land was passed on to his wife, Battle Robinson. Her son, Rob Robinson Jr., is the head of the Sussex County Public Defender’s Office. Another member of the family, Mary Beth Robinson Monigle, is married to Keith Monigle, owner of the 7.75-acre Rehoboth Beach Plaza shopping center. That parcel has been proposed for redevelopment as BeachWalk, a 63-unit condominium development that is the subject of a suit in Delaware Court of Chancery.
BeachWalk has been controversial in part because it is proposed as 58 single-family homes and five apartment-style units, which the city of Rehoboth has argued constitutes a major subdivision.
When Finlator and Robinson could not resolve the boundary dispute, Finlator filed a lawsuit in Superior Court. Robinson’s attorney, Vince Robertson, filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming that more than just Finlator’s property would be affected by any change in boundary lines.
In response, Finlator’s attorney, John Sergovic, filed a second lawsuit, this time on behalf of the other property owners, creating two separate, but related suits - with the second suit assigned to a second judge. The two lawsuits have since been merged, with Roccanelli presiding over the proceedings.
