Mayor Sal Perillo said the city agreed to swap public land on Central Avenue for nearby property owned by Suzanne Mathes so the city can expand a downtown parking lot.
The private property sits between two city parcels, the mayor said.
Mathes and her husband, Jan, planned to rebuild their home. The couple on Monday said they agreed to the swap as long as the zoning permits will transfer from the old lot to the new.
The couple from Newtown Square, Pa., plans to retire in Ocean City. They liked the 700 block of Central Avenue because it was not crowded by neighboring residential construction.
The compromise was acceptable to them, they said.
“We're going to be where we wanted to be on that block,” Jan Mathes said.
The city offered to buy their property this year to expand a parking lot. When the couple refused, the city threatened to take the land through eminent domain. The city ordered an appraisal of the property to follow through with the threat. That did not sit well with some city residents, who criticized elected officials at public meetings and in letters to local newspapers.
“For any mayor this would have been a bad political thorn,” Suzanne Mathes said.
In a statement, Perillo said eminent domain was a last resort. He apologized to the Matheses for “any consternation” it caused.
The couple said they would not let the episode ruin their retirement plans or make them bitter every time they drove past City Hall.
“No, that's our home. That's why we fought so hard,” he said. “I'd shake the hands of any elected official right now.”
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