Green Acres money may fund purchase of beachfront property

Last Updated on Thursday, January 31, 2013 02:31 pm Written by Claire Lowe Saturday, October 06, 2012 01:00 am

OCEAN CITY — Thanks to state funding, the city may be able to preserve a controversial beachfront property at 19th street, known as the Schilling property.

The Garden State Preservation Trust announced Sept. 18 that it had approved more than $123 million in Green Acres open space acquisition and recreational development projects, including a $25,000 loan and $300,000 matching grant for Ocean City, along with adjacent property owners, to acquire the .36 acre beachfront property to preserve the site as a natural area.

“The grant is a piece of what we would hope would be a settlement and a purchase agreement with the estate,” city business administrator Mike Dattilo said.

Dattilo said that the city has had discussions with the estate’s attorneys about the purchase and he cannot say what a final purchase price might be.

“What the possible purchase price is, is subject to negotiations,” he said.

He said the city does not intend to use any city funds for the purchase. But if acquired, the property would become preserved open space.

“It would go in our Green Acres inventory, which essentially precludes it from development in the future,” Dattilo said.

The 19th Street property, owned by the Helen Schilling Estate, has been the topic of a debate that started when the estate applied to the state Department of Environmental Protection for a Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit to build on the site.

Schilling, former owner of Shriver’s Salt Water Taffy and Fudge and many other local businesses, died in 1998, more than 40 years after she and her husband purchased three parcels of oceanfront property at 19th Street.

In 1992, the land, considered un-buildable, was part of an Army Corps of Engineers beach fill. The land was raised 10 feet, turning the property, which frequently flooded, into a dune.

After Schilling’s death, the estate filed for a permit to construct a single family home on the property. In 2008, the DEP denied the permit due to what it called “a primary dune system” occupying the property. Then in 2009, the estate filed an inverse condemnation lawsuit against the DEP, in which the estate claimed a DEP permitting denial in 2008 was inaccurate and amounted to an illegal seizure of the property by the state.

Meanwhile, in 2010, Alex Maggitti Jr., who has owned a home on neighboring Wesley Avenue since 1999, and several other neighbors collectively offered the estate $700,000 to purchase the property. That offer was rejected.

In October 2011, the estate settled the lawsuit with the DEP and the DEP sent out a notice of intent to permit. A 30-day review period began in October, ending Nov. 18.

At its Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012 meeting City Council passed a resolution authorizing a Green Acres application and agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection to acquire the beachfront property.

The resolution requested $1.2 million from Green Acres, which would be in the form of a 25 percent grant, 75 percent loan. Allegretto said at the time that only the administration can negotiate with the seller directly, so this was just the first step.

Dattilo issued the following statement on behalf of the city administration:

“If grant funds are awarded, they could be combined with additional funds contributed by neighboring property owners to potentially acquire the property. Should the property be acquired by a combination of grant and private funds, it is anticipated that the entire parcel would ultimately be placed on the city’s Green Acres inventory. This would prevent the property from being developed.”

Green Acres provides low interest loans and grants to assist local governments in the acquisition and development of open space for recreation and conservation purposes.  Green Acres non-urban acquisition loans are repayable at 2 percent interest over 30 years.