Historical preservation focus of workshop

Bethany officials told they're on the right track

M. Patricia Titus
Staff Reporter

Officials from Lewes, Milton and Bridgeville shared their experience of the towns’ ongoing preservation processes, from the established historical zoning-overlay district in the state’s first town (Lewes) and preservation ordinances in Milton to fledgling, grassroots efforts in Bridgeville.

Experts from around the state also offered their professional opinion at the workshop, organized by new preservation group Historic Sussex. They discussed what might be the next steps for preservation in other municipalities and elsewhere around the unincorporated county.

The verdict for Bethany Beach officials: they’re on the right track.

Town Council Member Lew Killmer and Vice-Mayor Carol Olmstead got a thumbs-up from the expert panel on the town’s proposed residential zoning changes, including the approach to offer enticements for preferred building practices that could help keep new construction and renovation in line with the town’s existing character.

The town is somewhat unique in the preservation field because it has few truly historical structures as such things are measured, being just over a century old. The few genuinely old structures that do still exist are spread around the town, rather than in a single cohesive “district” that could easily be marked for preservation efforts or development restrictions.

But Bethany Beach property owner and Historic Sussex founder Dan Costello, who organized the workshop with leaders of the county’s preservation and museum groups, has focused some of his efforts on preserving those few remaining older homes. He mourned the recent loss of “Drexler West” and is working with the owners of some of the other older homes to organize voluntary preservation of facades, in conjunction with the town’s Cultural and Historical Affairs Committee (CHAC), which Olmstead chairs.

One potential solution to that issue suggested by Widener University Law School professor and workshop panelist Tom Reed: consider using “historic monument” designations to help preserve those individual structures, even though they’re spread out so much as to make standard “historical district” enactment impractical.

That — combined with some of the zoning changes that have been proposed and commercial zoning changes that could be discussed in the near future — could help to preserve the town’s overall character, as well as the prized examples of the town’s architectural past.

It was a stark contrast with efforts in towns such as Lewes, where historical districts have used National Register of Historic Places language and historical-district committees to formally and officially dictate which structures are protected from change or demolition and which are merely ideally preserved, if possible.

Robin Bodo of the Delaware Division of Cultural and Historical Affairs noted that the National Registry language may come up short for towns seeking to utilize historical-district zoning. That language merely categorizes homes within a designated historical district as “contributing” or “non-contributing.”

The former designation marks those that would generally be considered vital for preservation as part of the whole district’s makeup, while the latter preserve a kind of status quo in not allowing more modern or otherwise incongruous structures to be built up in the midst of the more clearly historic homes in the district.

In Lewes and other towns, the designations control how much a structure in the historical district can be changed — limiting exterior upgrades to maintenance with like materials, for example, and prohibiting alterations to architectural elements. Even the choice to repair an original, mullioned window versus replacing it with modern casements can be a point of contention for the preservation minded. And throwing up modern siding on an old structure can spark a public outcry.

Meanwhile, those “non-contributing” structures generally get a much larger framework within which they can be altered. So long as they remain within the established character of the neighborhood, changes are often allowed. The two categories are often not enough to cover the gamut of properties in a historical zoning district, Bodo said. Individual solutions for towns — or even specific properties — may be needed to help preserve existing character.

Preserving that character has been the chief point for the younger towns in coastal Sussex County, with “tear-downs” being cited as a looming threat even where Historical Register homes are few and far between, stressed Adrian Scott Fine, director of the Northeast Field Office of the National Trust for Historical Preservation.

Older, smaller cottages are often razed these days in favor of larger homes that push the allowed boundaries of zoning codes to maximize footprints and living area, he acknowledged.

Bethany Beach has an ongoing battle with so-called “McMansions” that has been the root of the proposed residential zoning changes set for public hearing and council vote at a Feb. 10 meeting. The aim is to eliminate the “big-box” design that maximizes that space at the cost of visual no-no’s, such as looming flat planes on the street-facing sides of homes.

The solution broached by the Bethany Beach Zoning Ad-Hoc Committee (ZAC) has been to require multiple planes on front facades and to encourage elements like higher roof pitches and visible front doors, to help preserve a welcoming street presence, even when the older cottages are razed or moved out of town.

Taking that a step further, as discussed at the Historic Sussex workshop, the town — or its preservationists — may want to look into completing an official survey that would identify specific homes deemed to be historical.

Notably, State Historical Preservation Officer Tim Slaven, in opening the workshop, identified “historical” as something beyond just old. He said newer structures often also have personal meaning, to individuals or a community. And that’s likely the definition preservation efforts in the Bethany Beach area would assume.

Granted, many of those structures are already gone — through planned demolition or storm damage — but the town’s CHAC has plans now to mark the locations of the remaining structures and the former locations of the fondly remembered ones with plaques indicating their significance.

Another element of “historical” could simply be a home’s architectural importance. A Bethany Beach cottage may not stand out as an unparalleled example of architecture on a nationwide scale, but it could well be deemed worthy of preservation simply as a typical example of what the town’s homes often looked like in years past.

Whether such preservations efforts will extend beyond a few voluntary agreements to preserve facades of the beach towns’ older homes remains to be seen. There is a nearly limitless array of options for preservation, and the bottom line for preservation experts at the Jan. 30 workshop was that those in each town or locale will need to tailor a solution to their individual needs.

Fine said further workshops on such efforts may be needed — particularly to address the differing needs of towns facing a tear-down crisis, as most of the younger coastal towns have in recent years.

But the ongoing attempts at a solution in Bethany Beach may be the wave of the future in the area at large, if property owners and officials take the recommendation of the panel of preservation experts at the Historic Sussex workshop. (Fenwick Island Building Official Patricia Schuchman and Ocean View Town Manager Kathy Roth were also present to get a bead on how preservation efforts may go.)

And, the simple act of organizing a grassroots effort can serve to make property owners aware of the hopes for preserving specific structures and the overall character of an area. CHAC members at their most recent meeting were quick to praise Drexler West owner Tracy Mulligan for his design decisions in replacing the structure on that property, resulting in a building reminiscent of the cherished old one.

Though time is short to preserve the remaining small cottages and other architectural remnants of the area’s past, the Historic Sussex workshop was a big leap forward in helping local preservationists organize for the steps they will need to take in the future if their goal is to be achieved.

Costello said Historic Sussex has plans to incorporate as a non-profit organization in the coming months, with a long-term goal of helping individuals and municipalities make the steps needed to protect the county’s architectural heritage. (One of those steps may be in encouraging the filling of the lingeringly vacant Sussex County preservation officer position.) In the battle to preserve those dwindling resources, Historic Sussex may be a permanent rallying point.