Two demos for one new house in Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach’s annual moratorium on demolitions ends Sept. 15. When the city’s eight-month season of destruction begins, it’s going to start with two houses being razed in south Rehoboth to make way for one.
They are located on the corner of King Charles Avenue and Norfolk Street, and the city issued a notice July 30 for a two-story, single-family dwelling at 704 King Charles Ave. and a two-story, single-family dwelling and an accessory structure at 19 Norfolk St.
According to Sussex County property records, the two lots were purchased in May by Raymond and JoAnn Gomes. They purchased the King Charles property for $1.95 million and the Norfolk Street property for $2.3 million. Online listings say the house on Norfolk was built in 2006, while the King Charles house was built around 1960.
In advance of the annual moratorium coming to an end, the owners submitted an application to consolidate the lots. The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on the lot consolidation for Friday, Sept. 13. A consolidation of the two lots would create one 100-by-100-foot lot.
Attorney Vince Robertson is representing the Gomeses. They are combining the two properties to build a larger home for their family, which means the current homes on both properties will be demolished and a single new one will be built in their place, said Robertson in an email Sept. 3.
The city also issued a notice Aug. 23 for a one-story, single-family dwelling and an accessory structure at 48 Delaware Ave.
A few days later, Aug. 27, the city issued a notice for a one-story, single-family dwelling at 18 Henlopen Ave. This notice is the 300th issued by the city since April 2012.
DEMOLITION PERMITS ISSUED IN REHOBOTH BEACH SINCE APRIL 2012
Permits issued annually since April 2012:
- 2012: 14
- 2013: 15
- 2014: 23
- 2015: 23
- 2016: 30
- 2017: 30
- 2018: 27
- 2019: 34
- 2020: 32
- 2021: 23
- 2022: 16
- 2023: 20
- 2024: 13, through Sept. 3
Permits issued by month since April 2012:
- January – 24
- February – 20
- March – 38
- April – 13
- May – 6
- June – 3
- July – 11
- August – 64
- September – 39
- October – 39
- November – 26
- December – 17
