By MADDY VITALE
Homeowners in the Ocean City Historic District are concerned. They are worried about what a home in disrepair could do to their home values. They are saddened that not all property owners seem to care to preserve history in the same way that they do.
They are fighting back. And city officials are listening.
In response to complaints, the city has slapped the property owner with violation notices for a litany of problems at the crumbling house at 615 Wesley Ave.
Residents want the owner, RJGVB LLC of Shippensburg, Pa., to clean up the property and maintain it until the company finds a buyer.
The home is listed for sale at $899,000. If it does not sell, the owner plans to demolish it.
Historic District resident Jay Hogan summed up the sentiment of the residents in an email to the city this week.
“This property has been abandoned by the developer and is a blight on the Historic District, not to mention our entire city,” Hogan, who lives with his wife, Kathy, at 612 Wesley Ave., said in the email. “Full time residents and visitors alike, who read the demolition notice posted on the home, just shake their heads and wonder how Ocean City could let this happen.”
The city has responded to the concerns of homeowners, historians and the community as a whole.
In an email dated Aug. 13 to Hogan, Michael Allegretto, aide to Mayor Jay Gillian, said the city has sent violation notices to the property owner, RJGVB LLC.
Among the issues the city is ordering the owner to fix include: removal of grass and weeds from sidewalks and gutters and repair and maintain the front stairs, front deck, rear deck, side stairs, overhang extensions, fence and chipped and peeling paint. In addition, the city wants the owner to repair and maintain shingles as well as roof repairs.
For more than a year, residents in the community have urged the owners to make the needed repairs and to maintain the property.
The group met for an informal meeting a couple of weeks ago at resident Richard Barth’s home on Wesley Avenue. Since then, the group has exchanged emails on the ongoing issue.
They want the owner of 615 Wesley Ave. to do right by the 119-year-old Edwardian era residence, a property that was once an inn.
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.
The home is considered by local historians to be a historic gem that once featured a wraparound porch where people would sip tea and cool drinks and enjoy the fresh air.
But now it sits, deteriorating. Overgrown brush replaced the once-neatly clipped shrubbery and gardens. The exterior to the home is weather-beaten and in need of maintenance and repair.
The matter has been before the Historic Preservation Commission. Its leaders, including chairman John Loeper, have said that they believe the home should be and could be restored to its original grandeur.
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. Residents such as the Hogans say it is a quality of life issue. The residents in the district take pride in their homes.
The 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 house, which dates back to 1902, has five bedrooms and 4.5 baths. It has been classified by the city as a “key building” in the Historic District, the highest ranking for historically significant structures.
During a City Council meeting Thursday, Council President Bob Barr, Councilman Keith Hartzell and Councilman Tom Rotondi expressed concerns about the deteriorating property.
“Man, it was terrible,” Barr said, describing what he saw during a recent tour of the property. “The condition was unacceptable. For the individual to have made it like that was mind-boggling.”
Hartzell wanted to know if the ordinance and the regulations for maintaining properties in the Historic District have “enough teeth” to ensure that the owners are keeping the properties in good condition.
He also wanted to know whether Council should take a second look at the ordinance and the regulations to see if they need to be strengthened.
City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson referred to the city’s 2012 property ordinance and told Hartzell that “the teeth are there.”
McCrosson that the city’s code enforcement office is aware of the problems at 615 Wesley Ave. and would be taking action.
There may be hope for the home to one day, perhaps sooner than later, be restored.
In another email sent to the informal group of residents in the Historic District, Brian and Christine Lihou said that they may be interested in purchasing the home.
“Since the meeting at Richard’s (Barth) house, it was clear that the house needs to be saved and we would very much like to be the ones that do it!” the Lihou email said. “This would be a chance for our family to move back home to Ocean City and help preserve some of the town’s past.”
