By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
The modest two-story duplex that sits at the corner of 89th Street and Landis Avenue dates to the 1960s and is showing its age.
“It is aesthetically challenged,” Donald Wilkinson, the attorney for the duplex’s three owners, told Sea Isle City’s Zoning Board on Monday night.
Bernadette Kearney, Kathleen O’Brien and Robert Rauck have owned the duplex at 8901 Landis Avenue for the last 15 years, but now they want to demolish it and build a larger and more attractive duplex in its place.
At the conclusion of an hour-long meeting held online and by teleconference, the zoning board voted 5-0 to approve the project.
“It’s a well-designed project for the lot. It looks good,” zoning board member Bill Keller said, echoing the comments of the other members.
Four zoning variances were approved, mainly for lot size and setbacks. One variance will allow the owners to build on an undersized lot. Another gives them permission for a slightly smaller front yard setback from the street to accommodate some architectural features on the new duplex known as “bump-outs.”
Kearney said in testimony before the zoning board that the existing duplex has been used as a vacation property for family and friends.
As the surrounding Townsends Inlet area continues its transition from older to newer homes, Kearney, O’Brien and Rauck decided they wanted to build a new duplex that would be compatible with the neighborhood’s nicer character, Kearney said.
They are planning to build a three-story structure that will be a two-unit duplex. It will provide enough off-street parking for a total of six cars.
Jim Belcher, a resident of 89th Street who spoke during the public portion of the zoning board meeting, emphasized that parking is a high priority for Townsends Inlet homeowners. Like other sections of Sea Isle, Townsends Inlet explodes with tourists during the summer vacation season and parking is at a premium.
Belcher expressed concerns that the new duplex would result in the loss of some street parking in the neighborhood. He was assured by the zoning board’s engineer, Andrew Previti, that street parking would remain the same after the duplex is built.
During his presentation to the zoning board, Wilkinson outlined a series of safety and aesthetic benefits the new duplex would have for the neighborhood.
“The aesthetics of this street would definitely be improved,” he said.
Wilkinson explained that the new duplex will meet modern flood-protection standards and building codes, something that the existing duplex does not. He estimated that the existing duplex is 60 to 70 years old, but one neighbor said it was built in 1965.
The zoning board meeting, meanwhile, was held online and by teleconference to comply with social distancing requirements during the coronavirus pandemic.
