By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
It took Brian and Jennifer Larsen seven long years to finally secure all of the government regulatory permits that they needed to build their bayside home in Sea Isle City. Along the way, they had a daughter, Melody, now 3 years old.
But they are not building a palatial, multimillion-dollar waterfront mansion that seemingly would require so much attention from state and federal environmental agencies.
Consisting of 792 square feet of living space, two bedrooms and two baths, their tiny home will be a throwback to the quaint, old-fashioned cottages that once were ubiquitous at the shore.
“We took a gamble and seven years later finally got the permit,” Brian Larsen said in an interview Sunday.
Now that the home is finally under construction, the Larsens are looking forward to moving in this summer to enjoy the stunning sunsets unfolding over the bay.
“The view is amazing,” Brian Larsen said. “Of course, the view is such an attractive part of the property.”
Their house will be a blend of a modern home and an old cottage that had stood on their property at 204 Sounds Avenue since 1932.
Although the run-down cottage was mostly demolished, they have incorporated the interior walls of the old home into the construction of the new house. The new home will retain the same styling of the old one, Larsen said.
Over the years, the old cottage became badly deteriorated, so much so that Sea Isle fought for more than a decade in court to have the crumbling structure torn down. But the city finally reached a settlement with a state agency last year that paved the way for the Larsens to build their single-family home on the property.
The city’s concerns over the deteriorated property began in 2008 with its elderly former owner, Evelyn McQuade. The battle with McQuade escalated into a lawsuit in 2011. After McQuade died, the city gave her estate more time to sell the property instead of moving ahead to have the house demolished.
That opened the door for Brian and Jennifer Larsen to buy it, but the sale did not happen right away. Unable to find out much about the house at first, they researched the old property deed at the Cape May County Clerk’s Office and then had to get in contact with an attorney representing the McQuade estate.
Intrigued by its bayfront location in what is a relatively isolated part of Sea Isle, Brian Larsen explained that he had been interested in the property for years.
“When I was younger, I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t fix it up,” he said of the old house.
Larsen and his wife finally were able to buy the old cottage in 2015 for $175,000, real estate records show.
However, they had to deal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Cape May County and Sea Isle over the last seven years to secure regulatory approvals for their home.
The NJDEP, which regulates construction at the shore, consented to a new home on the bayview property because another house – the old cottage – was previously built on the site.
Last year, Sea Isle’s City Council approved a resolution for a “statement of consent” with the DEP to allow the Larsens to rebuild the property.
“We see it as a huge success from the city’s perspective,” City Solicitor Paul Baldini said.
Baldini characterized it as a “win-win” for both sides because the property will remain a tax ratable for the city and the Larsens will be able to make their home in Sea Isle.
Brian Larsen is owner of Larsen Enterprises, a construction company for docks and bulkheads. He is part of the well-known family that owns Larsen’s Marina in Sea Isle.
The Larsens’ property on Sounds Avenue is where Second Street comes to a dead end near Sea Isle’s northern border with Strathmere. This lightly developed part of Sea Isle looks more rural than shore-like. Sounds Avenue briefly turns into a dirt road leading to Brian and Jennifer’s property.
The property is located in an environmentally sensitive area consisting of both wetlands and an upland portion, which is largely why it took so long for the government agencies to issue the regulatory approvals.
“It’s titled wetlands. Originally, it was uplands, then there was erosion. There’s all these different areas,” Larsen said of the topography.
To meet modern flood-protection standards, the house is being built on wood pilings 14 feet high. It is literally perched high above the marshlands on what are essentially stilts.
The northern tip of Sea Isle has public water service, but no sewer lines. The Larsens, though, are including a 2,000-gallon sewerage holding tank for the property so they can build the home.
Regulatory approval of the sewerage tank also took time, contributing to the seven-year saga for the permits.
“Seven years is an extremely long process just to rebuild a house that already existed,” Larsen said.
