So much for reducing the number of duplexes built in OC

This is so sad

So sad to hear of the brothers making this very hard decision.I hope and pray they still have part of their property with maybe a new building?? Afterall they are sacrificing prime land the builders should bot take advantage. THANKYOU...

More duplexes?!? Why am I not surprised. Things change, that's reality....but Ocean City has vanished piece by parcel, leaving a town without any architectural character. It used to be so special........sad.

Sad doesn't even begin to convey my feelings. To tear down buildings that have stood for over 100 years and replace them with MORE duplexes (four of them no less), ought to be against the law. It's about time our city officials grew a set, and said enough is enough. But that will never happen because it's all about the almighty dollar. Meanwhile this town has lost all it's charm and character, and is getting more and more honky tonk by the hour.

Hate to see this happen. Charm and Character will be limited to one block pretty soon. Ticky Tacky OC all the same houses in a row where you can't tell the difference between any of them.

those 2 rundown buildings hardly qualify as charm or character. it's a shame to lose some of the open space, but those 2 buildings are totally out of date and nonfunctional. i'm not saying that 4 duplexes are the best esthetic use for this property, but it is time to modernize.

While attending La Salle High and LSC in the 40's, I had the pleasure of being employed as a bus boy and waiter for three years at Ocean Rest. I think I could write a very long message that would ring a bell with many of that era. I'll just highlight a few.(pay while in HS was $5.00 per week plus R and B).First year was '44--the summer after the big NE storm which wiped out the porch on the Ocean side.
The cook was Mrs.Powell and later her daughter. Mrs Powell used coal stoves for cooking.Every Thurs., she went to AC to buy the fish for Fri noon meal. I hated fish until then--now I love it. Mrs Powell was, I believe one of the first diving horse ladies on the Steel Pier. Her father/minister ran the livery stable for the beach.
From a personal standpoint, I got to know every brother in the region.They were truly great men and great teachers.
One of the highlights was the great softball games on the beach-- the brothers had a huge number of fine athletes at that time and to say the games on the beach were competitive was an understatement
At that time the saying was that the brothers owned Riparian, aka Littoral rights to the beach--meaning supposedly at that time some exlusive rights to the beach--never verified by me but surely honored by the public during the games.

Many more fond memories, but enough for now

jjg LSCHS '48 LSC '54

this is so sad. it'll be like driving by where Campbells used to be - now big duplexes. or where all the big old wood houses used to be scattered all over the island - gone.
each year, one more beauty is knocked down for a nondescript blah box. we vacationed near the Brothers (32nd) how will people know where they are when walking on the beach? ;)

You people that hate new duplexes are the same ones buying a floor in one. The demand is there. It makes the dream of owning in OC affordable because our land value is so high. If they built 4 single familys there you still wouldnt be happy because those would look the same and cost in excess of 3 million a piece. So honestly, what would you rather these builders build? An old school cottage with modern materials...no one would buy a small cottage on the beach because the price would still be the same (due to land value) and it wouldn't be functional for their large modern day family. No Buyer that I know with 3 million bucks would buy a small cottage. I lovejust the oldsame homes toothis but its Just not realistic anymore.

John Grauer, enjoyed your trip 'down memory lane'. Would love to hear more. It's ashame that they let it go to such disrepair but it is costly to maintain a site such as that. Hate to see it turn into more duplexes but glad they are being so considerate to the neighbors. Another piece of OC history being demolished.

Traveling to beaches all around the country, many towns have an open grass covered park like area where people can park their cars, have an awesome playground for kids and be able to go to the beach, there are open outside showers where you can shower off the salt and sand from the beach, hang out a little while and leave. In our awesome town that is about the only thing missing.
We pay a large amount of county taxes and do not receive our fair share of open space dollars in return. I believe the city was able secure funds for the area at 2nd and bay. Maybe they can secure funds from the county and pay for remaining balance. The revenue from the parking can help pay off the cost of the purchase. The parking lots the city purchased down town I heard already paid for themselves. Maybe this could do the same and we would have a nice little park on the beach instead of more duplexes. JUST A THOUGHT!!!

Sorry to see the Brothers go. They are very hard working and dedicated men. But in terms of what happens to their parcel of land, it is certainly not surprising that duplexes are being considered. It has been an unfortunate trend in town for many years. It is so lucrative to be irresistible to speculators and developers. Our lifestyle is of little importance to them and their cadre of pr people, lawyers and financial backers. Such is life in the big city. The dark cloud that hangs over all our heads who reside in coastal communities from NC to CT is the impending "disaster tax" that the feds are about to unleash upon us in the form of increased flood insurance premiums. House movers have said in our coastal communities, due to the concentration of structures, it would be nearly impossible to raise many of the houses to the ever changing standards. So, those of us with mortgages would be saddled with insurance premiums so high, they will drive us from our homes. That, my friends and neighbors, is a genuine threat.
Jim Arthur, OCNJ

History lovers, wake up!!! Ocean City may lose ALL of her old buildings if the new flood elevation requirements prevail. What will happen to the remaining 19-teens Craftsman houses, and the earlier Victorians, whose owners want to treasure them, not tear them down to build duplexes? I don't see how these old structures can be elevated (either physically or aesthetically), but aren't many of them too low to be insured against floods at affordable rates? And, haven't they proved their ability to withstand storms, since they've been here for 90 years or more? Governor Christie's decree is a death sentence for historic houses. This is the battle that needs your support - not trying to keep this retreat's buildings standing when their owners have already made a tear-down decision.

As far as my memories go, my greatest enjoyment of those big blue (not so attractive) buildings was as a landmark in returning from a bike ride to the boardwalk. I was a pre-teen in the 60's and it would be a long bike ride to and back from the boardwalk – which I sometimes did alone more than once a day. When seeing the buildings on return I knew I had just a few more blocks left to go until I was home! And in riding the alleys, you could not miss them or you would run right into them - though it was always fun navigating the sidewalk roundabout. No, they are not the most attractive buildings, but it will be another loss of OC's distinguishing character. Also, in a strange sort of way I had always been intrigued by their existence and a little proud that they were there and chose to be in Ocean City. It said to me that we were a town that the Christian Brothers would want to have a retreat located.

Just what OC needs, more cookie cutter empty 9 months a year housing! Way to go OC.

Teresa
I am a graduate of LaSalle University and like the various people that shared their sadness over the likely loss of the Christian Brothers seaside retreat, I am disappointed that another corner in Ocean City will become the home for a couple of dull, extra large, mostly vacant buildings. I am sure the Brothers will attempt to save at least one sandy piece of ground that would preserve their mission and vocation in promoting peace, justice and communal prayer.

If you don’t like cookie cutter duplexes it’s probably time to pack your bags and get out of town. Many of the homes that were flooded were (predictably) older single family cottages. Because of the expense of elevating and an aging population I think it likely that a lot of those property owners will sell out to development and leave the island. But a lot of those older single family homes are no longer in an R-1 zone. Thanks to the 60 40 rule and handing out use variances like candy on Halloween they’re now in an R-2 zone. The 60 40 rule provides that if 40 % of a block is in duplex the entire block will be zoned duplex. (It has to be 60% single to be retained as single family.) Thanks to use variances and the 60 40 rule there’s very little left in town that has not either been converted to duplex or rezoned for duplex. The 60 40 rule will finally be repealed (I think because even that even dynamic didn’t allow for rezoning to R-2 in some cases) but the rule has already had its intended effect. You’re now going to see duplex sprawl like never before.

Yes I understand that for the builders it’s more profitable to build duplexes, and they’re easier to sell, but duplex sprawl is destroying the character and livability of this town. Yes the goals of the recently adopted Master Plan put an emphasis on single family but the majority of what has been rezoned since its adoption was rezoned for R2 (duplex). And what single family was gained was gained at the cost of commercial.

And now we backed ourselves into a corner. Suppose the owner of the second floor of a duplex doesn’t want to spend the money to elevate and the owner of the first floor has to. Now what? As for the true intent behind the BF + 2 ordinance that was revealed at a city council meeting when a certain councilman lamented that because of Christie’s action the “building envelope” will shrink. You all voted to expand the building envelope, he reminded the other council members (of their recent vote to pass BF + 2.) Hey look I’m loosely paraphrasing but that’s what I heard. Listen to the replay yourself.

There was so much more to the ordinance than the additional foot of freeboard. And if you have a home that was recently built at the state adopted BF + 1, guess what? Chances are, due to this ordinance, you’re no longer in compliance either. I would say it is government over reach but the simple fact of the matter is this town is run for the benefit of its commercial interests. They are well represented here. What about YOU?

I am concerned that the ownership and concerned citizens have not been diligent in exploring preservation alternatives. Around the country similar structures have been preserved through the utliization of federal and state investment tax credits for qualified rehabilitation. I have been a sponsor in many of these projects and I would be glad to host any interest from the owners if it can lead to the preservation of what little historic fabric is left in OC. My email is bill@southxcapital.com.

William P. Fusselbaugh III

The issue before us is more dire than the condo explosion. Do we understand the ramifications of this BFE and zones? Do we understand that those of us with mortgages and who are required by our lenders to have flood insurance will be paying upwards of 3000% increase? Now is the time to be asking questions and applying pressure if we are to remain on this island. Lets work together on this.

Jim Arthur

You are correct. The task before us is to defend the island from rampant speculation and preserve our lifestyle here. We want to attract families. You don't do that by charging $30,000.00 a year for flood insurance. I think we need to develop a task force to look into precedents, legalities, etc. What's your idea?
Jim Arthur

As we get older, more and more of what we cherished, in the past, seems to be disappearing. That is probably the natural course of things but it is still sad. I spent many Summers at the Christian Brother property. As a young brother, the entire college program population of the Baltimore district would take their vacation at the 31st street location. There seemed to be room for everyone. No air conditioning? Who cared? The windows were open and the ocean breeze wafted through the building. When we played football, we made a line in the sand for the "Out Of Bounds" marker on the land side. The other Out-Of Bounds was Portugal. Basketball courts were nearby. We played guitars and sang on the porches. Listened to the release of the new Peter, Paul and Mary albums and just had wonderful times. They were more than buildings. They were time machines that held more memories than can possibly be written here. Sad is one word but it doesn't come close. For those who know, here is a question. Would Br. Anselm be happy?

don't panic over the new FEMA maps. they are only temporary. they are being revised and will be reissued this summer. at that time appeals can be filed. only properties that are on ground level in the "v" zone are looking at $30,000 flood insurance premiums. these are the properties that suffered the most damage during the "hurricane" and are also the properties that are causing all of our rates to increase. they definitely should be raised so that they don't suffer the same damages in the event that we ever has the misfortune of having another hurricane hit us. properties along the beach blocks are in the "A" zone, and their proposed flood insurance premiums are much more reasonable. futhermore, for under $500 you can add content insurance to you flood insurance and be covered up to $250,000.

Good news, Vic! I think we have so much at stake here though that we have to remain vigilant as to the twists and turns of the legislative process.
Jim Arthur