Politics & Government

Houses on Beach Likely to Win Stay of Execution

With owners suing for the right to make improvements, the Ocean City Planning Board will suggest a reprieve for existing Beach and Dune Zone houses.

Six homes built on the beach in Ocean City will win a small victory if the Ocean City Planning Board approves its updated Master Plan on Wednesday.

The update recognizes the right for these Beach and Dune Zone homes to exist. 

The homes were built long before the establishment in 1988 of a zone that does not permit any residential or commercial uses. In some cases, they were constructed even before the creation of the current bulkhead line that separates the beach from the streets.

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While the creation of the new zone did not force owners to give up their homes, it did make them "nonconforming" — meaning expansions, improvements or rebuilding (in the event of destruction) cannot be completed without obtaining a use variance approval from the Ocean City Zoning Board.

The updated Master Plan would create conditional uses for:

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  • 19 Beach Road
  • 21 Beach Road
  • 113 Beach Road
  • 233 Beach Road
  • 237 Beach Road
  • 4900 Wesley Avenue

The Master Plan re-examination serves only as a guideline and has no regulatory effect. The Planning Board will vote on the updated plan at a public meeting 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Ocean City Free Public Library. The recommended change in the Beach and Dune Zone definition can be enacted only by City Council.

Council separately has been discussing in executive session a lawsuit against the city related to the Beach and Dune Zone. The lawsuit may make an amended Beach and Dune Zone ordinance a priority for council once the Master Plan is approved.

 

THE LAWSUIT

John and Diane Myers, who own 19 and 21 Beach Road, filed a lawsuit in July 2011 against the City of Ocean City and its Zoning Board of Adjustment (see attached PDF for full text of the lawsuit).

The Myers hope to add a narrow second-floor roof deck to connect existing front and rear decks at 19 Beach Road. They want to construct roofs over the existing decks. They also propose to add four dormers to the top floor of the two-and-a-half story home.

The Zoning Board denied their application in May 2011.

The suit — filed by William Serber of the Ocean City firm Serber Konschak — says that 19 Beach Road was first constructed in 1932 or 1933, at least five years before Ocean City had any type of zoning ordinance whatsoever and about 60 years before the creation of the current Beach and Dune Zone (the classification was changed in 1988 to "Conservation Element," according to the suit).

The properties are surrounded by their own bulkhead and are now separated from the ocean by a dune system created by beach replenishment that started in the 1990s.

The lawsuit seeks reversal of the Zoning Board decision, "further relief as the court deems just" and reimbursement of the costs of the lawsuit.

 

THE MASTER PLAN PROPOSAL

The Planning Board recognizes that seven properties were built on the beach prior to creation of the Beach and Dune zone in 1988 — including the North End Beach Grill. A separate Beach and Dune Zone property was built later.

"The residence at 341 Waverly Boulevard exists as the result of a 1993 Order of Judgment from the Superior Court of New Jersey," according to the Master Plan re-examination. "This order requires that Block 70.99, Lot 2 'be changed from Beach and Dune Zone to R-1-60 Zone.' "

"The Planning Board has concluded that, provided certain conditions are satisfied, the flood preventative functions of the beach and dune area are assured, and conformance is maintained with the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance, re-establishment of zoning standards for six of the seven residential properties is appropriate," the Master Plan re-exam states.

The Planning Board recommends the following conditional use standards:

  • The parcel shall have an existing perimeter (except for the lot’s frontage) shore protection structure (bulkhead or seawall) and be occupied by an existing single-family dwelling.
  • A sand dune exists, or will be constructed, seaward of the parcel that conforms to the “Recommended Design Profile for Ocean City Dunes” and as required by the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance.
  • The owner of the subject property has entered (or will enter) into an agreement known as a “Deed of Dedication and Perpetual Storm Damage Reduction” with the City of Ocean City and State of New Jersey to guarantee future beach fill projects can occur, and including the Public Trust Doctrine that provides public access to the beach. This agreement shall include an acknowledgement that the city's cultivation of dunes adjacent to the homes located in the BD Zone is expected to result in larger and higher dunes and the city will not restrain such growth or its effect on private property.
  • Rights to lands seaward of the bulkhead are passed to the City of Ocean City to allow beach fill projects as deemed necessary and appropriate by the City of Ocean City.

Properties that satisfy the four conditional use requirements outlined above would have to adhere to a schedule for building heights, lot coverage, setbacks and other guidelines.

To see the full text of the Beach and Dune Zone redefinition and the entire Master Plan re-examination, visit the Master Plan Re-Examination page on the City of Ocean City website.


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