Walls’ Apartments property in Rehoboth going before BoA
It’s been a little more than four years since the 16 cottages of Walls’ Apartments were razed on Scarborough Avenue in Rehoboth Beach. The lot has sat vacant since, but it appears construction plans have been submitted to the city.
The city issued a public notice Aug. 30 for a board of adjustment hearing related to a variance request at 104 Scarborough Ave. The request seeks relief from a requirement that any new lot contain an area of at least 4,000 square feet, with its shortest side at least 48 feet long. There is no additional information related to construction plans for the property on the public notice.
The property is zoned R-1 residential and is shaped like an irregular quadrilateral – the western edge along Scarborough Avenue is 215 feet; the eastern edge is 162 feet; the northern edge is 160 feet; the southern edge is 150 feet.
The variance is being requested by attorney David C. Hutt on behalf of Walls Apartments LLC, owner of the property. The LLC has an address of 246 Rehoboth Ave., which is the Jack Lingo Realty building. The Lingo family and real estate company purchased the property in March 2014. The previous owner was Ann Walls McCool, who, with the help of two husbands she outlived, operated the Walls’ Apartments business from 1951 until her death in 2013.
In addition to the cottages, the Walls complex had a number of houses along Christian Street, including the Lorenzo Dow Martin House on the corner of Christian Street and Scarborough Avenue. The home was built before 1870 and is considered the oldest house in Rehoboth. Dow Martin was the farmer who sold his land to city founders in 1873. That triangular-shaped piece of land now encompasses much of the city’s commercial district.
In the past, Bryce Lingo, one of four sons born to company founder Col. Jack Lingo, has spoken about the property on behalf of the company, but he could not be reached for comment.
The board of adjustment meeting is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 26, at city hall.
