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Planning commission denies rezoning request for 1013 Clark Avenue, urges council to consider ADU policy
Summary
The commission voted to deny Edwin Flores’s request to rezone 1013 Clark Avenue from R-2 (single-family) to R-3 (multifamily) to restore a two-family dwelling; commissioners cited lack of legal justification and concerns about spot zoning and recommended the City Council consider accessory dwelling unit (ADU) zoning changes.
The Pocomoke City Planning Commission voted to deny a zoning map amendment request from Edwin Flores to rezone 1013 Clark Avenue from R-2 single-family to R-3 multifamily in order to restore the property as a two-family dwelling.
Dan Brando, Pocomoke City planning director, presented the staff report and said Flores purchased the property in April 2024 and that one side of the house appears habitable while the other side remains unfinished. Brando told the commission that staff found no evidence the original zoning represented a mistake or that neighborhood conditions have changed sufficiently to justify a map amendment. He also noted a history of similar requests in which the commission denied rezoning to R-3 in order to discourage conversions the city had earlier concluded led to neglect and demolition.
Edwin Flores, the applicant and owner, told the commission the building was originally built as a duplex, that it retains two front entrances and two driveways, and that he planned to occupy one unit while renting the other. “By reverting it to its original use I can maintain the property's integrity and avoid unnecessary alterations,” Flores said, arguing the conversion would provide an affordable rental option and help maintain the house.
A resident, Edward Popchak of 1100 Cedar Street, spoke in support, saying the arrangement could operate like an in-law suite and noting he had decades of multifamily housing experience. Commissioners discussed state and local precedent and the city code, including the lack of ADU provisions that would allow limited secondary units without rezoning. Several commissioners said the present code change that removed certain flexibilities made cases like this difficult to approve.
A motion to deny the requested zoning map amendment carried. The commission included a recommendation that the City Council evaluate zoning-text changes to permit accessory dwelling units or similar mechanisms that would allow family-oriented secondary living arrangements without a full rezoning to R-3.
