West Rehoboth ADU approved by Sussex Board of Adjustment

A new Sussex County ordinance requiring board of adjustment approval for accessory dwelling units on lots less than 10,000 square feet was put through its first test Oct. 7, as residents opposed a proposed dwelling in West Rehoboth. The board, however, approved the ADU 4-0.

Speaking to the board for property owner Finley Jones Jr., Kevin Burdette said the property owner had been told by Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission that the apartment dwelling on the same lot as the primary residence was permissible under a special-use exception ordinance. Under an ordinance recently passed, the property owner’s plan for a garage apartment or rental unit on the same property as a primary unit requires approval by the board. Properties larger than 10,000 square feet can apply for an ADU directly to the county.

Burdette said the property will be gated with a 7-foot fence, and will have parking spots along Duffy Street.

“From Duffy Street, you will not be able to see the residence,” Burdette said.

West Rehoboth residents who opposed the ADU said the area already floods, and the new construction will make it worse.

Laura Mattheu, who lives on nearby Norwood Street, gave the board a petition with 31 signatures of residents who are opposed to the ADU. She said there are four storm grates in the area that do nothing, and drainage is like a fishbowl.

“Flooding is occurring on Burton and Norwood streets,” she said.

Brenda Milbourne, who lives one door down on Duffy Street, said her street routinely floods.

“When it rains, water floods our street. We cannot get out,” she said. “The water just sets there, until it dries up into the ground.”

Jennifer Noelle owns a Burton Avenue property that she said she’s renovating to become her full-time home. Said she’s afraid of water runoff from other properties. 

Noelle also said she is concerned about additional cars that will come to the area for the rental unit when parking is hard to find.

“There is already an increase in traffic,” she said.

Mattheu said she believes approving an ADU for the property is a dangerous precedent.

“People are building their properties high and shooting their water to the neighboring properties,” she said. “We have no stormwater removal in the community.”

Board member Kevin Carson acknowledged that drainage is a problem in West Rehoboth, and has been for some time, as he weighed the issue against a property owner’s right to improve his property.

“This is a bigger question,” he said, referring to the drainage issue in West Rehoboth. “Seems to be a habitual problem in the area. But I think the property owner has the right to develop the property.”

The special use for the Duffy Street property passed 4-0.

Editor’s note: A quote incorrectly attributed to John Williamson was removed.