ADA parking, bar questioned for Coast Hotel expansion

February 1, 2025 3

The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission got its first look at the proposed 10-room expansion of Coast Hotel during a meeting Jan. 24. The additional rooms would add bulk to the western edge of the building, but the lack of handicap-accessible parking spots and a proposed bar next to the third-floor pool drew the attention of planning commissioners.

Located at the corner of Rehoboth Avenue and Second Street, the hotel is the former Sandcastle Motel. Beginning in 2021, the structure received a top-to-bottom, multimillion-dollar renovation. The 60-room hotel reopened as Coast Hotel in July 2023.

The recent planning meeting wasn’t the first time the proposed expansion has been before a city board. About 10 months ago, the board of adjustment approved a variance request allowing the structure to increase the floor-to-area ratio of the legal nonconforming structure from 2.34 to 2.71 so the 10 rooms could be added. The winning argument made by the developer, New Castle County’s Harvey Hanna, was they had to spend an extra $2 million out of pocket to make necessary fixes during the renovation process. They said they probably wouldn’t have bought the building if they’d known how poor a condition it was in and that the additional 10 rooms would help them recoup some of those costs.

Attorney Vince Robertson represented the Harvey Hanna team during the Jan. 24 meeting. The building was not in great shape, and Harvey Hanna spent a lot of time and money making it an anchor on Rehoboth Avenue, he said.

Moving into the proposed expansion, Robertson said the rooms would be to the west of the pool, on the side next to the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company. The footprint of the building remains the same and so does the facade, but rooms are behind it instead of a false wall, he said.

On top of those rooms, another floor of rooms and a bar would be added, said Robertson. A total of 70 parking spaces would be required, but there are already 73 total spaces, so the parking remains unchanged, he said.

City Building Inspector Matt Janis said the parking spaces are too narrow to meet existing code requirements, but changes weren’t required because alterations to the existing parking lot aren’t being made. He encouraged the developer to make some of the spaces meet code.

Reading from his report prepared for the meeting, Janis said, “We would suggest that the applicant consider integrating ADA-compliant parking spaces into their parking plans to the degree feasible. It stands to reason that these guests would welcome the provision of compatible parking options. Therefore, we suggest that it is in the applicant’s own best interests to provide these amenities for their guests with these needs.”

Commissioners Susan Gay, Nan Hunter and Michael Strange each pushed for handicap-accessible parking.

Gay said she wanted to know if the new rooms would require parking spaces that are code-compliant. This happens all over town, she said, referencing improvements made to buildings without corresponding improvements to accessibility.

ADA compliance is lacking all over town and whatever the city can do it should do to really try to expand accessibility, said Gay.

Hunter sided with Strange, saying if the hotel is offering ADA-compliant rooms, the hotel may be required to offer ADA-compliant parking.

Strange said he thought it may still be required under federal law.

Commissioner Susan Stewart said the project should have come to site-plan review when the original redevelopment was being done. Some of the challenges trying to be remedied now would have been dealt with then, she said.

Stewart was talking about how a large portion of the Rehoboth Avenue side of the building was demolished in the middle of the summer of 2022. City code calls for an annual moratorium on demolitions from May 15 to Sept. 15. Code also calls for public notices when the moratorium isn’t in place, unless it’s considered an emergency. City staff decided it was an emergency and issued the demo permit.

It was an oops on the city’s part, said Stewart.

In response, Robertson said it was a badly constructed building, with a significant amount of rust causing a healthy and safety issue. A good storm could have knocked it down, and by the time Harvey Hanna figured that out, there wasn’t time to halt work.

“It was a real issue,” said Robertson. “There was a lot of misunderstanding.”

As proposed, there would be a bar built on the third floor off the hotel’s pool, which would be separate from the hotel’s restaurant on the first floor. Janis has asked for the bar to be removed from the plans.

Gay said she didn’t think the bar would be allowed under code. It’s part of the city’s DNA to not allow freestanding bars, she said.

Robertson said the section of code related to freestanding bars is in the section about restaurants, not hotels. It’s two different silos of code, and the code is silent on freestanding bars in hotels, he said.

It’s not really a standalone bar, said Robertson. It’s a pool amenity on the third floor that will be keycard controlled, he said.

Commissioner Jim Ellison said he would like more information on the emergency egress from new rooms because some of them will be at the end of a long hallway.

Following the discussion, there was talk of the project coming back for a more formal review at the planning commission’s Friday, Feb. 28 meeting, but nothing was set in stone.