Old Home May Get More Time to Save it From Demolition

By MADDY VITALE Jay and Kathy Hogan have lived in Ocean City’s Historic District since 2002. They take pride in their home, built in 1900. They love preserving the older character of their home at 612 Wesley Ave., while adding modern touches for comfort. For three years, the Hogans, formerly from Pennsylvania, operated their home as the Serenity Inn before keeping the vintage gem all to themselves, their family, loved ones and friends. But their solitude, comfort and happiness in their own home has been impacted over the past year or so because a historic house at 615 Wesley Ave., across the street from theirs, has not been kept up by the owner. “I just got frustrated,” Jay Hogan said in an interview at the Hogan home Monday. The sign on the property reflects the former asking price of $999,000 and warns of the home's demolition. The Hogans are part of a group of people who want the home saved. The current owner plans to demolish the residence if it does not sell for the asking price of $899,000. The old home dates to 1902. The former asking price for the five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom house was $999,000. The house has been classified by the city as a “key building” in the Historic District, the highest ranking for historically significant structures. Its original history dating to 1902 isn’t immediately clear, but over the years it has variously served as the Genevieve Guest House and the Koo-Koo’s Nest bed and breakfast, according to online real estate records. Like others, the Hogans are concerned about the old home's deteriorated condition. They also do not believe that the price tag is a fair market value for a home that needs renovations and repairs. On Sunday, the Hogans attended an informal meeting at the home of their neighbor, Richard Barth. They, along with about 20 other concerned residents, are fighting to save the historic home at 615 Wesley. They also want the current owner, a group called RJGVB LLC of Shippensburg, Pa., to clean up the outside of the home and cut the overgrown shrubbery and repair the weather-beaten exterior. “It is a blight,” Kathy Hogan noted. “People go by on the way to the Ocean City Tabernacle, tourists, and they stop and they look. The owner should be held accountable.” The Historic District stretches between Third and Eighth streets and Central and Ocean avenues. Homes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries line the streets. The Historic District is governed by ordinances designed to preserve the character of the neighborhoods near the Ocean City Tabernacle, where Ocean City was founded and first settled. The old house near the corner of Sixth Street and Wesley Avenue is in the heart of the Historic District. The goal of the concerned residents is to preserve the district. The fear is that a developer will want to create a duplex in place of the Edwardian-era home at 615 Wesley. Back in March, Ocean City Historic Preservation Commission Chairman John Loeper explained that the company that owns the property must provide a host of items to the commission to meet the regulations in the city ordinance on historic homes before anything is done. The commission denied a demolition permit in September of 2020 and the city’s Zoning Board upheld the decision. Like the Hogans, Barth and other residents in Ocean City, the members of the commission want the home saved, rehabilitated and brought back to its original grandeur. Mayor Jay Gillian has said in a statement that he received many emails in favor of saving the home. “Certainly the mayor loves the history of the town and would love to see any historical property saved and maintained, but we have to follow the laws we have,” Mayor’s Aide Michael Allegretto said Monday. The historic commission’s denial of the demolition application “triggered a period where the property must be offered for sale to somebody who would want to preserve it,” the mayor said. However, the first list price by the owner of $999,000 created a moratorium on the demolition of the home for six months while it was on the market. The Hogans explained that they believe when the sale price was recently reduced to $899,000, it gave the home another six-month reprieve from demolition while it is up for sale. City Councilman Keith Hartzell attended the meeting Sunday. “I want to make sure all procedures are followed and we do everything correctly and by the book,” Hartzell said of the steps the city is taking with regards to the home. The Historic Preservation Commission is holding its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday night in City Hall. Overgrown shrubbery and a weather-beaten exterior create an eyesore in the Historic District, homeowners say.