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Berlin council OKs proposal to close area

BERLIN—In a move that surprised at least one observer, the town council voted on Dec. 9 to approve a proposal by Joseph Moore, a partner with Ocean City-based law firm Williams, Moore, Shockley & Harrison, that the town close and transfer part of their right-of-way interests to an unpaved street near Stephen Decatur Park to a neighboring homeowner.
The area of land, designated on historical maps as “Commodore Street,” is a street on paper only, contended Moore, who was speaking on behalf of property owners Tracey Collins and Kristopher Davis. As such it has no public purpose, he said during the public hearing held when Mayor Gee Williams and the town council met for their last regular meeting of 2013.
Moore also asked the town to extinguish a portion of its right-of-way through his clients’ property, from nearby Burley Street to the nonexistent Commodore Street.
The land maps show six recorded lots, owned by Moore’s clients, with the nonexistent Commodore Street bordering the lots on the northern end and Burley Street to the south.
Part of Commodore Street was long-ago paved over by a section of U.S. Route 113, and more recently, part of a walking trail in the park. The space allotted for Commodore Street is 30 feet wide and runs parallel to the actual street, Burley Street.
Between the two “streets” are six platted lots owned by Collins and Kristopher. The original property owners had granted the town rights-of-way to 40 feet on the lots, so that wastewater staff would have access to a sewer line that exists on the property, according to Moore.
In their request, current landowners Collins and Kristopher were seeking to reclaim 10 feet of the town’s right-of-way back, possibly to facilitate a resubdivision of the rest of the property. The council unanimously approved a motion by Councilmember Dean Burrell to grant the property owners’ request.
Moore also asked that Commodore Street be officially closed and a portion of it be conveyed by quitclaim deed to his clients, whose property abuts where the street is located on official property maps.
A second motion to close the virtual “Commodore Street” entirely and update the land maps, proposed by Council Vice President Elroy Brittingham, was also unanimously approved.
According to www.realtor.com, a quitclaim deed is a legal instrument used to transfer a possible ownership claim to property in a manner that prevents the party granting the transfer from later claiming an interest in the property. They would essentially “quit” exercising their “claim” to the property or right-of-way.
Moore noted Article V, Sec. C5-1 of the town charter, governing the town council’s enumeration of powers, authorizes the conveyance of “real or leasehold property when no longer needed for public use, after having given at least twenty (20) days’ public notice of the proposed conveyance.” Notices of the public hearing on the matter were published in Ocean City Today Nov. 15 and Ocean City Digest Nov. 14.
According to Town Administrator Laura Allen, the proposed quitclaim deed will be presented for council review and approval at an upcoming council meeting. “Probably in January,” she said. 
Patricia Dufendach, who lives near the area, told the council she was unaware that a transfer relating to the property was being proposed and expressed concern that the town’s action could result in inadvertently shutting off access to a stretch of land that neighborhood residents frequently use to walk to the park.
During a Dec. 12 interview Moore pointed out that town will still have a right-of-way through the property to access the underground sewer line, so there would still be access for pedestrians to the park. He noted the town also owns one of the lots that have front access on Burley Street. “Nobody will be denied access from Burley Street to the park,” he said.