Rezoning requested for Cultured Pearl lot at 60 Sussex St. in Rehoboth Beach
The property owners of 60 Sussex St. in Rehoboth Beach have requested a rezoning of the lot from residential to commercial.
City commissioners are slated to discuss the proposed rezoning during a workshop Monday, March 4. However, the rezoning would require an amendment to the future land-use map in the city’s comprehensive development plan, which triggered Preliminary Land Use Service review. The PLUS review took place Feb. 28.
Attorney Vince Robertson is representing the Quillen family, which owns the property. During the review, Robertson said the triangle-shaped lot is already being used commercially and has been used that way for decades. It’s the current home of Cultured Pearl and The Shops at The Pearl, and had been Quillen’s Hardware before that.
Robertson said there’s been a memorandum of understanding between the city and the property owners since 2006 recognizing the historic use of the lot as commercial on an otherwise residential street. There are no plans for redevelopment of the property, Robertson said, and there will not be a more intensive use of the property than there already is.
Describing the proposed rezoning as a housekeeping measure, Robertson said the existing structure sits on three lots, two of which are already commercial. The lot is split-zoned, which is problematic, he said.
Mary Ellen Gray, Rehoboth city planner, made a brief presentation during the PLUS review. Before the city can entertain the rezoning request, a change to the future land-use map needs to be made, she said, agreeing with Robertson that the request is housekeeping.
“This use has been here a super long time,” she said.
There were no comments or objections to the map amendment by any of the state agencies that participated in the PLUS meeting. Formal written comments from the PLUS review will be completed by Wednesday, March 27.
