SNOW HILL – Commercial property in West Ocean City will be reclassified as residential following approval of county officials.
The Worcester County Commissioners last week voted unanimously to approve a request to rezone slightly more than three acres on Route 611 in West Ocean City. The property, which was classified as C-2 general commercial, will now be zoned R-4 to allow for multifamily development.
“This property falls between several residential subdivisions,” attorney Hugh Cropper said.
Jennifer Keener, the county’s director of development review and permitting, told the commissioners Cropper’s client had petitioned for a rezoning based on a change in the neighborhood surrounding the property. She said the rezoning request had received a favorable recommendation from the Worcester County Planning Commission.
“They concluded that there has been a change in the character of the neighborhood, primarily as a result of the Mystic Harbour Sanitary Service Area expansion to serve a greater number of properties,” she said.
Keener added that the property was considered suitable for infill development, consistent with the purpose and intent of the R-4 district. She said the proposed zoning was also more consistent with the “existing developed area” category of the comprehensive plan.
Cropper said his client, Ocean 8 Group LLC, wanted to downzone 3.29 acres from commercial to residential to allow for multifamily development, which he pointed out would be more consistent with neighboring properties. He noted that while under Maryland law you could request a rezoning based on a mistake or based on a change in the neighborhood, in this case he was basing the request on a change.
“We define the neighborhood and then assert a change,” he said. “If you find a change in character of neighborhood, then we have to prove secondly that it’s more consistent with the comprehensive plan.”
He stressed that residential zoning would fit the neighborhood better and was consistent with the existing developed area in the comprehensive plan.
“This is classic infill residential development, being right in between three major subdivisions,” he said.
Surveyor Gregory Wilkins and landscape architect Steve Engel also testified in support of the rezoning.
“A residential development works on this property,” Engel said.
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
