Where Will They Park?

  Caution! - We Got Screwed  
  Read: View the Aerial Photo: Watch the videos:  

The Facts about our
Chancery Court Case


Our Opening Brief to the
Delaware Supreme Court

Supreme Court Reply Brief

Aerial Photo
Aerial Photo w/ Survey
Watch Video #1
Video #1 -
Introduction
Watch Video #2
Video #2 -
Successors & Assigns
Watch Video #3
Video #3 -
Triplex Common Areas
  Click the links below for more information:
  Where Will They Park?
  20+ Reasons Why There Is No Easement
  Bogus Attorney Fees
  New Castle County Department of Land Use
  Unclean Hands
  Delaware Chancery Court & New Castle County Sanctioned Land Grab
  Related Cases
  Deerhurst
  Historic Photos - The way it was...
  Illegal Pressure Washing
  Blackball Properties LLC
  Wrong Way on 202
  Tell Us Your Story
  What They Are Saying
  Get Involved
   
   

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We are the property and business owners of 1703 and 1709 Concord Pike in Wilmington, Delaware.

We oppose the change of use of 1707 Concord Pike from general office to light auto service (auto detailing).

It has been 699 weeks and 4 days since we first complained to New Castle County about this property.

   
 

For all of you who own commercial properties in New Castle County or represent those who do, it seems that changing the use of a nonconforming property to a more intensive use does not require you come up to current code. If you have been spending tens of thousands of dollars to reduce your square footage, engineer parking plans, and/or get variances from the Board of Adjustment, then you have been duped by the Land Use Department.

And for those of you like us who have shared parking, be prepared to be overrun when one of your neighbors changes to a more intensive use. The County will lie to you and then look the other way. In their eyes, "shared parking" means "unlimited parking" and UDC Section 40.22.611 Subsection K does not apply.

Fun Fact: Blackball Properties LLC

When the truth and the facts aren't on their side, some people resort to mudslinging and making things up.

Which is exactly what happened in our neighbors' 9/24/12 pre-trial brief.

By the way, this 18 page document took Ms. Cherry 18.25 hours to prepare plus 3.2 hours for Mr. Wolcott to review and revise - for a total of $6,275 in fees. Here's what that money bought:

The Blacks purchased lot 1703 under the guise of a shell corporation because they anticipated potential personal liability. The Blacks even went so far as to name the corporation "Blackball Properties" because they intended to "blackball" the Staffieris.

Really?! Here are the facts:

1. We formed an LLC because three of us wanted to invest in the property. An LLC is the most widely used entity for purchasing commercial real-estate, especially when more than one person is buying a property.

2. We are about half a mile north of Blue Ball (where Foulk Rd and Rockland Rd intersect the Concord Pike). This is where the Blue Ball Tavern once stood and Alfred I. duPont built the Blue Ball Barn for his dairy farm in 1914.

3. In 1999 the State of Delaware purchased the Blue Ball Barn property and started renovations in 2004. This was also the time period that DelDOT undertook the "Blue Ball Project" and reconfigured most of the roads around our part of 202 to accomodate our friends at AstraZeneca.

4. In 2004 the owners of 1709 Concord Pike, whose last name happens to be "Black", erected a Blackball monument at the corner of Murphy Road and Concord Pike as a tribute to the famous Blue Ball that stood a few thousand feet to the South.

5. During the Blue Ball Barn renovations, the original Blue Ball was relocated to a DelDOT storage facility and later discarded (per this 2008 letter). We're still waiting for that "suitable replacement" and out of solidarity we put our black ball into storage. The post remains and perhaps someday both the blue and the black balls will return.

6. Back to the LLC formation in 2011 - Two of the members of the new LLC have the last name "Black" and the third has a last name that many folks can't pronounce on the first try. And since we had been calling the corner "Blackball" for the past 10+ years it seemed like a good name.

Blue Ball in 2002

The Blue Ball monument in 2002 before the barn was restored and the ball was lost by DelDOT

Blackball in 2004

Scott Black & the Blackball monument in July 2004.