Lewes planners support King subdivision

The Lewes Planning Commission is recommending approval of a minor subdivision to split a Schley Avenue parcel into four lots. 

The request made by Christine King went before the city’s board of adjustment in March, where she received variances for one of the four lots to be undersized and narrower than required by code. 

The property at 119-125 Schley Ave. contains enough space for three conforming lots and one undersized lot. The undersized lot is 45.73 feet wide and 4,552 square feet, which does not meet the R-4 zone’s minimum requirements of 50-foot width and 5,000 square feet.

King sought a variance because, she said, misunderstanding of code by city officials ultimately led to the creation of the undersized lot when she sold off a piece of the original parcel several years ago.

The property in question is currently home to an industrial building that was most recently used by Beebe Healthcare for records storage. King and her late husband Tom also previously used it for storage and office space. The structure was built 90 years ago and had also been used as a hosiery factory.

The Kings purchased the industrial-zoned property in 1998. Several years later, the city rezoned the parcel to residential.

The planning commission voted 6-1 to recommend approval of the request. Commission Bob Heffernan cast the lone vote against because he did not agree the substandard lot should be allowed. 

The request will now go to mayor and city council, which will make the ultimate decision.