“The wise tell us that a nail keeps a shoe, a shoe keeps a horse, a horse keeps a knight, a knight, who can fight, keeps a castle,” a poem attributed to an early 13th  century German didactic poet, Friedank. In 21st  century Rehoboth Beach, the wise would tell us the lack of fair-minded citizens endanger our cultural institution, an endangered cultural institution needs a board of directors to protect it, and a board of directors, who lacks the courage to fight, loses the cultural institution for the rest of us.

Many are responsible for the untimely death of Clear Space Theatre.  At the top of the list are the appellants, who twice appealed the reasoned decisions to approve based on the records before two different Rehoboth Beach planning commissions. I was chair of the planning commission at the time of its initial approval Aug. 14, 2020.  I can unequivocally say that neither of those planning commissions acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

Next in line are those members of the Rehoboth Beach Board of Commissioners who, on two occasions, failed to adhere to the scope of their authority set forth in city code that limits the board of commissioners’ review to only those facts solely within the record of the planning commission. Commissioners Patrick Gossett and Susan Gay were the most flagrant in their disregard of this limited scope. Only Commissioners Pat Coluzzi, Dick Byrne, Steve Scheffer and Edward Chrzanowski, who served at various times during the appeals process, stuck to the planning commission’s record and the law.

Turn next to the majority of the board of directors of Clear Space who voted July 25 to abandon the litigation and to sell the Rehoboth Avenue site.  Only Sander Bieber and Dick Byrne (the only two board members residents in the City of Rehoboth Beach) and one other board member voted in favor of staying the course.  The majority threw in the towel at just the wrong moment after Clear Space received a very favorable ruling on a motion to include the site plan as part of the certified record and a briefing schedule that strongly suggests a ruling from the court was likely by year end.  Sadly, they failed to act in the best interests of Clear Space and our community.

It is time for the board of commissioners and Clear Space to rectify this mess.  It should be clear by now that the city and Clear Space would be better served by meeting and negotiating a better outcome.  It is time to put aside the vituperative positions of all parties, and agree to move this project forward on Rehoboth Avenue as approved by the planning commission without further delay.

Please do not let these bad decisions by the board of commissioners and board of directors of Clear Space be the final curtain for the Clear Space Theatre.  We cannot afford to lose this iconic cultural asset for the want of a nail.

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