Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission Approves Belhaven Hotel with Conditions
The Rehoboth Beach planning commission has approved the site review plan for the proposed Belhaven Hotel – planned for 2 Rehoboth Avenue on the boardwalk. On Friday, the City Planning Commissioners added 10 amendments to the plan – which included drop off zones and adding a second loading/unloading berth, the screening of refuse storage, and the height of railings, rooftop planters, solar panels and a rooftop antenna, which all exceed the 42-foot height allowed in the City Code.
For this project to move forward, the developer must act on the suggestions made by the Planning Commission. The amendments all included variances that the developer would need to obtain from the Board of Adjustment as well as obtain any needed approvals from the state and county so that construction plans could be drawn and submitted to the City of Rehoboth Beach.
The project does have detractors including Dr. Michael Trahos, who talked during the remainder of the public hearing about the need for seismic monitoring for adjacent properties because of the possibility of damage from the driving of piles. Another resident said this new 4-story building would change the character and skyline of Rehoboth Beach and that it was “too big for the city.” However most people who spoke were not against the proposed hotel – saying it is an important project and a “labor of love.”
The Belhaven Hotel is planned to be a 4 story structure fronting Rehoboth Avenue, the Boardwalk and Wilmington Avenue – and would include 92 rooms, a 27,000 square foot ballroom, 94 spaces of parking underground and commercial space on the ground floor. The Papajohn Family has been working for about seven years to bring the hotel back to property that’s been in the family since before 1900.
Part of the original Belhaven Hotel in Rehoboth Beach was destroyed during the Storm of 1962 – the rear main 4 story hotel remained operational until 1975, when the then Delaware State Fire Marshal, Roy Benjamin, forced the closure and the demolition of the main hotel structure.
