By 1808Delaware
A plan to give a century-old former fraternity house a new life as a small boutique hotel came to an end Wednesday night. The Delaware Planning Commission rejected Jablonka Real Estate Partners’ request to operate the proposed Delta House Inn at 163 North Franklin Street. The motion to approve failed 3-2, with Brandon Feller, Vice Chairman Dustin Nanna and Dean Prall voting no. George Stroud and Chairman Stacy Simpson voted yes. Mayor Carolyn Kay Riggle, who also serves on the commission, was absent.
The decision followed an August 5 public hearing that brought out strong neighborhood opposition and prompted the commission to postpone its vote for a month. The hearing had already been closed, so residents who filled council chambers Wednesday were unable to offer additional testimony. Several applauded after the application was denied.
A Smaller Inn Inside a Large House
The nearly 8,000-square-foot building stands on 0.366 acres at the corner of North Franklin and Griswold streets. It has four levels, including a partially buried basement, and dates to 1917.
According to the city’s application materials, Jablonka Real Estate Partners is under contract to purchase the property. The lower two floors are currently used as a residence, while portions of the upper floors have already been framed and equipped with plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems for guest accommodations. The proposed inn would have contained no more than nine guest rooms. Plans called for reception, parlor, kitchen and dining areas on the first floor, five to seven guest rooms on the upper floors, and another one or two rooms in the lower level for guests or an on-site owner or manager.
Jared Jablonka told the commission that the concept was closer to an owner-occupied bed-and-breakfast than a conventional commercial hotel. His longer-term plan was to complete the renovations and eventually sell the property to someone who would live on the lower floors and operate the inn above. The proposed name, Delta House Inn, reflected the building’s long association with Ohio Wesleyan University.
Staff Recommended Approval With Conditions
The property is zoned R-NT, or Residential Neighborhood Transition. Delaware’s zoning code permits a boutique hotel in that district only after conditional-use approval from the Planning Commission.
City planning staff recommended approval, subject to seven conditions. Those included the nine-room limit, compliance with parking and lighting standards, replacement of the existing drive aprons with concrete aprons, and installation of a privacy fence along the western property line. The site could have accommodated as many as 13 parking spaces in a wraparound lot with access from both North Franklin and Griswold streets. The applicant proposed no substantial exterior alterations beyond roof and building repairs, parking-lot striping and landscaping work.
Prall, however, expressed reservations about allowing a commercial operation within the residentially zoned neighborhood. He questioned whether the inn would fit the area’s character and what effect it could have on surrounding property values. Planning and Zoning Administrator Anna Kelsey said the city could consider future changes to the zoning use table, but that broader discussion was separate from the application before the commission.
Neighborhood Concerns Carry the Vote
During the August 5 public hearing, neighbors raised questions about parking, traffic, noise, outdoor gathering areas, headlights shining onto nearby property and whether someone would remain on site to supervise the inn. Some also worried that approval would remain with the property if it changed hands, potentially leaving the neighborhood with a different operator and a different business model in the future.
The commission voted 5-1-1 that night to table the application. Members said Jablonka’s absence from the hearing left them without firm answers about staffing and other operational details. He later said a previously planned family vacation prevented him from attending.
Jablonka appeared Wednesday and argued that the word “hotel” had created an inaccurate impression of the project. He described a small inn intended largely for Ohio Wesleyan alumni, visiting professors and other travelers, rather than a destination for parties or large groups. He also pointed to existing short-term rentals in the surrounding area and noted that the building spent much of its history housing considerably more people than the proposed inn would have accommodated. That argument did not carry the majority.
An Uncertain Next Chapter
The property previously received approval in 1985 for seven apartments, but that approval was tied to the owner rather than the land and expired after a later sale. City staff reported that the apartment project was apparently never completed. Jablonka said he initially considered converting the building into apartments before discovering how much work had already been completed toward the inn. Following Wednesday’s denial, he said apartments could again become an option, although the commission’s decision may also place the pending purchase in jeopardy.
The building’s history stretches well beyond its current residential use. It housed Ohio Wesleyan’s Delta Tau Delta fraternity for decades, later served as the Franklin House women’s dormitory and then became a Kappa Sigma fraternity house.
For now, the building remains a large historic property with storm and water damage, unfinished rooms and no settled path forward. The Delta House Inn will not be its next chapter, but Wednesday’s vote left open the question of what will be.
Photo: Zillow
