The existing house is more than 75 years old.
By Donald Wittkowski
The modest yellow home at 5104 Pleasure Ave. sits on an itty-bitty lot that measures just 34 feet-by-50 feet.
The back yard is a Lilliputian-like 5 feet.
But the owners have big plans for this tiny property located only about a block from the beach.
They hope to persuade Sea Isle City’s zoning board to grant them a series of variances allowing them to build a three-story, four-bedroom home complete with an elevator, zoning documents show.
Property owners Joseph, Gennard, Peggy and William Dunfee plan to demolish the existing two-story home to make room for a new single-family house.
The existing house is estimated to be more than 75 years old. It occupies a lot that is just 1,700 square feet, far smaller than the minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet required for home construction under Sea Isle’s current zoning laws.
The existing house is more than 75 years old.
In their application to the zoning board, the Dunfees are seeking a variance from the minimum buildable lot size. But that’s not all.
They are also requesting zoning variances for minimum lot width, minimum lot depth, minimum front yard, minimum rear yard, aggregate side yard setback, maximum building coverage and maximum floor-area ratio, according to the documents.
The Dunfees, who live in Vineland, use the Pleasure Avenue home as a seashore retreat. A knock on the door Friday went unanswered. Their Sea Isle attorney, Donald Wilkinson, did not return phone messages Friday seeking comment.
The project has been pending before the zoning board for months. A hearing on Dunfees’ application for the variances has been carried over to the board’s Aug. 5 meeting.
Andrew Previti, the zoning board engineer, described all of the variances being sought by the Dunfees in a Jan. 29, 2019, memo to the board. In summary, he noted the tiny dimensions of the lot size.
“The property has 34 ft. of frontage on Pleasure Avenue and a lot depth of only 50 ft. Therefore, the lot has a lot area of only 1,700 s.f. and as such is considered a non-buildable, substandard lot,” Previti wrote in the memo.
