Oversized homes on small lots, loss of park spur public comment
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – Local residents at last week’s Ocean City Council meeting said quality of life is being diminished by large homes being squeezed onto tiny parcels, an issue that has arisen repeatedly over the years because of housing density on the island.
One resident questioned the prevalence of large houses shoehorned onto small parcels while avoiding parking spot requirements. Another citizen said packing houses on most available space on the lot worsens the city’s flooding woes. A third citizen asked why the city had to give up open space for affordable housing rather than buying a nearby home for sale and turning that into open space.
Parking spot requirements
“What we have is oversized houses on undersized lots. These houses are having a serious impact on neighbors’ quality of life in Ocean City.”
That is how Chuck Deal, of Central Avenue, summed things up during his five-minutes of public comment before City Council July 16.
He told council members that as he has watched the planning and zoning boards, he keeps seeing properties finding ways around parking requirements – with the support of those boards.
For new houses being constructed, ordinances require a number of parking spaces based on the number of bedrooms. As an example, he said a three-bedroom home required two parking spaces, a four-bedroom needed two and a half spaces and a five-bedroom home required three spaces.
“I have experienced firsthand, a liberal interpretation by the zoning board,” he said, of what was called a three-bedroom home on an “undersized lot.” On the top floor was a 350-square-foot room, with a full-size bathroom. When the board asked what that room would be used for, “they said it could be used as a playroom. Everybody laughed. They knew it was going to be used as a fourth bedroom because of the full bathroom.”
He said an architect cited a 2015 New Jersey administration code requiring two spaces for a four-bedroom house, even though there was a newer 2017 code that required two and a half spaces. “No Ocean City professional picked up that the architect was using the old code,” Deal said. “Why?”
He said architects keep using the terms “attic” or “study” on rooms that they know are going to be extra bedrooms to keep the parking requirement down.
In another case, he said, a local woman was concerned about a neighboring property because the owner wanted to remove half of the front lawn, removing a tree in the process, to meet the parking requirement, but felt intimidated about speaking out.
In that case, he said some zoning board members expressed concerns about parking and suggested removing an outdoor shower stall in the back to meet the parking required.
“Letting the owner take out the front lawn for extra parking will give Ocean City a trailer park look,” Deal said, noting they owner was asking that because they built a five-bedroom house on an undersized lot.
Council members did not respond. Public comment is not used as a back-and-forth between citizens and council or the administration, new Council President Bob Barr explained. Council or administration members often note they will speak to the constituent after the meeting.
Open space swap
Jack Snyder of Simpson Avenue asked if there were options for getting Cape May County to use open space money to buy a lot with a home on it rather than let the city build affordable housing on a popular lot on his street.
That caught the attention of Councilman Michael DeVlieger.
Snyder said the city contributes $1.25 million to the county open space fund and the county is willing to help the resort maintain open space.
He noted a goal of the city’s master plan is to acquire and maintain open space. “If Ocean City is to remain a desirable place to live, it is important adequate open space is permanently protected,” Snyder said, quoting from the master plan.
Snyder said his neighborhood has a lot that is popular as a park for recreation, but the city is going to build affordable housing there to satisfy a COAH requirement.
He said he has no objection to affordable housing, but suggested a way to keep the park as open space and still meet the COAH requirement.
Right across the street from that lot is a duplex for sale. Could the city, he asked, buy that property instead for the affordable housing but use is as a type of swap to keep open space and have the county financially support that?
DeVlieger called that “an interesting suggestion. I hadn’t heard someone talk about it in that way.”
He asked city Solicitor Dottie McCrosson if the city would be able to buy real estate with open space money and do the swap.
McCrosson said she didn’t know how the open space council would view that, but she noted plans were already in the works for the affordable housing.
“I can tell you the lot you’re speaking about is part of our affordable housing plan,” McCrosson said. “We’ve got the survey work done, we’re going forward with the predevelopment plans to put up a very modest sized home on that lot with every expectation we’ll be able to save the tree on that lot that is very important to the neighbors.”
She did note about the suggestion it was “something we could certainly look into.”
McMonsters
Bill Hartranft of Battersea Road wondered what was happening with a plan the city paid about $100,000 for about four years ago on flood mitigation. He said he didn’t see that the city got what it paid for.
He noted his wife appeared before council last year and talked about the lack of permeability on North Street – with the permeable surfaces soaking up some of the flood waters. Speaking about big homes built close together, he said there were three homes going up “and I thought I saw a sliver of light between them.”
“There is no land for permeability if we’re going to continue building these McMonsters,” Hartranft said.
