Rehoboth planners begin school site review July 14

The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission will begin its site-plan review process for the proposed new Rehoboth Elementary School at 3 p.m., Friday, July 14.

If the commission approves the site-plan review, the Cape Henlopen School District will be able to move forward with building a new school, starting next year.

The planners voted 8-1 to move forward with a full review at its June 9 meeting, with Commissioner Harvey Shulman the only no vote as he opposed the speed at which the commission was moving forward.

The school district is looking to build a new school on the site of the current one that would be able to accommodate 720 students. The 24-acre parcel is zoned educational residential or ER and would feature 188 parking spaces. In May, the district was granted six variances by the board of adjustment that allowed the new school to exceed maximum lot coverage requirements, building height limits and to have less than the minimum natural area. The school district was allowed to build three new elementary schools - Love Creek, H.O. Brittingham and Rehoboth - after district voters approved a $48 million referendum in March 2016.

One of the biggest concerns raised by the planning commission is traffic flow around the school. At the commission’s June 9 meeting, building inspector Dam Molina recommended further study to have hard data on whether there would be traffic problems caused by the increased amount of students that could go to the school.

“We want to balance what is in the interests of the school with the interests of the citizens of Rehoboth Beach,” Shulman said.

He questioned whether the new school would be the source of hundreds of cars lining up on Stockley Street Extended during pickup.

Brian Bassett, head of facilities management for the school district, said the district is building all three of the new schools in similar style, saving $1.5 million in design costs and giving students at all the schools similar amenities. The new school would have basketball and pickleball courts and two athletic fields.

Bassett said the school construction would take place during school, which the district is doing with the new H.O. Brittingham school. The school would be reoriented toward the center of the lot to accommodate the construction.

Chairman David Mellen asked where vehicles will park during construction. Engineer Zach Crouch said contractors would park on the site, not on the street, and that there would be a  construction entrance separate from the students and staff, but that where the entrance would be has not been determined.

The preliminary review is intended to allow the commission to ask questions and ask for more information on the proposed plans. The planning commission sought further information on the district’s stormwater management strategy, parking and deliveries coming onto the site.

The plan has met with some opposition from neighbors, who believe the school is trying to shoehorn in a design not compatible with the site.

Nonetheless, the commission will move forward with a public hearing, in which the commission could approve or deny the plans and possibly impose conditions. Shulman told district officials that the commission would take its time in reviewing the project.

“You’re asking for something that is going to affect this community for a long time,” he said. “We know you want to get it done. We’re not going to live with something for the next 25 years and approve it in one public hearing. I don’t know what this is going to do, but I don’t think it’s fair with all this information to expect us to come in and have a public hearing and vote. It might happen, but to expect it to happen in my view is entirely unreasonable.”

Planners to begin Lake Drive review

In addition to the school site-plan review, the planning commission will also begin preliminary review on a partitioning request for 201 Lake Drive.

The request has been made by owners Brian and Linda Berry.