By Donald Wittkowski
Sea Isle City’s zoning board has approved the construction of a new duplex to replace one of three adjacent beachfront homes destroyed in a massive fire a year ago that caused millions of dollars in losses.
One duplex burned to the ground, while the charred remains of another duplex were demolished shortly after the Nov. 24, 2017, fire on Pleasure Avenue between 91st and 92nd streets in the city’s Townsends Inlet section.
A single-family home next to the duplexes was severely damaged by the fire and had to be torn down in December after it was determined to be a total loss.
The single-family home, located at the corner of 91st Street and Pleasure Avenue, was rebuilt over the summer. Ron Schlupp, the owner, said the vacation house was worth $3 million and was replaced with a new one costing $4 million.
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The prime, oceanview property where the duplexes once stood has remained vacant since the fire, but now it is clear that at least one of them will be rebuilt.
Plans for a new three-story duplex were approved by the city’s zoning board on Nov. 5. The project needed variances because the new duplex will be larger than the original one, zoning board secretary Genell Ferrilli said.
Zoning board documents identify the owners of the duplex as Laurie Van Metre and Mark Beaver and Anthony and Alice Costello.
Carmen La Rosa, a Folsom-based architect for the duplex owners, said they are planning to begin construction by December and hope to have it completed in time for the 2019 summer season.
“They’re going to start as soon as possible. Their plans are to rebuild,” La Rosa said in an interview Thursday.
Beachfront property on Pleasure Avenue once occupied by the two duplexes destroyed by fire is now empty land.
The new duplex will be built at the corner of 92nd Street and Pleasure Avenue. It is not yet clear whether the owners of the other duplex destroyed in the fire are planning to rebuild.
Ferrilli noted that owners of the second duplex wouldn’t have to come before the zoning board for construction approvals if they built the same size residence and didn’t need variances.
After investigating the fire for months, officials from the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s Office, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the Sea Isle Police Department were unable to determine the cause.
They concluded that the fire started somewhere inside the duplex located in the middle of the three homes, although the cause could not be determined. Wind-swept flames spread to the adjoining houses before firefighters from Sea Isle and four neighboring towns extinguished the blaze.
It was around 5:30 a.m. when the fire broke out. Both duplexes and the single-family home were unoccupied at the time.
