SNOW HILL – Two acres of residential property on Elm Street in West Ocean City will be rezoned commercial following approval from county officials this week.
On Tuesday, the Worcester County Commissioners approved a request from Antique Woodwork and the Francis Scott Key Motel to rezone six parcels on Elm Street. The rezoning, which was recommended by the Worcester County Planning Commission, will change the properties’ designation from R-3 multi-family residential to C-2 general commercial.
“The planning commission concluded that a change in zoning would be more desirable in terms of the objectives of the comprehensive plan and would give the petitioned properties a zoning classification consistent with their longtime commercial uses,” said Phyllis Wimbrow, the county’s deputy director of development review and permitting.
Wimbrow told the commissioners the requested rezoning involved six parcels, two belonging to Antique Woodwork and four belonging to the Francis Scott Key. She said that when zoning was first established in the 1960s, the Antique Woodwork properties had been zoned B-2 general business district while the Francis Scott Key parcels had been zoned R-3. During the county’s 1992 comprehensive rezoning, all of the six parcels were zoned R-3.
Attorney Hugh Cropper, representing the property owners, said the rezoning was being sought on the basis that a mistake had been made and that there had been a change in the character of the surrounding neighborhood. He said that the Antique Woodwork properties had been used commercially for years and that the Francis Scott Key properties were a part of the motel. They currently contain cottages that are rented out weekly.
“They’re indiscernible from the motel,” he said. “It’s a seamless transition. If I took any of you there and said can you show me where the zoning boundary is I don’t think we could.”
When the public was invited to comment on the proposed rezoning, the property manager of nearby residential lots on Elm Street said regardless of what Cropper said the majority of the property surrounding his clients’ was residential. She added water could be an issue for future development, as not all properties in that area were connected to the county infrastructure.
With no further comment from the public, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
