Work underway on Covered Bridge Trails project

Site work is underway on Covered Bridge Trails off Tulip Drive near Lewes. Residents of the community will use the county's one and only covered bridge for access.

Located behind Dutch Acres and St. Jude the Apostle Church along Route 1, the 55-plus community will contain 43 single-family homes and a mix of 91 duplexes and townhomes. The total number of units was reduced by Sussex County Council from 147 to 134 as a condition of approval.

At its Dec. 15, 2016 meeting, council voted for an ordinance to grant rezoning from AR-1 to MR and a conditional use for multifamily housing to Ocean Atlantic Communities LLC, developers of the project.

Access to the community would be off Route 1 via Tulip Drive, an entrance shared by the church and the Dutch Acres and Villas of Taramino communities. The bridge over wetlands at the entrance will be 180 feet long.

Proposed amenities for the project are a pool, clubhouse and trailhead for the proposed Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail, which would run along the northern border of the community. The developer would grant a 5-foot easement to add to the existing right-of-way for the proposed trail. A parking lot would also be provided.

The developer is also required to clean up a former dump site on the property under the state's brownfield program.

Part of the site – known as Hudson Pit – was used for disposal of stumps and construction debris and sand from an oil spill in 1977. As part of the state's brownfield program, the developer has been required to submit a 1,400-page remediation plan, which will be supervised by the state's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control staff.

The developer will be required to cap under a concrete pad an area of subsurface oils in the northern section of the parcel; excavate and dispose of remaining organic debris such as tree stumps; and provide a groundwater monitoring and site inspection schedule. In addition, the community must be served by a central water system with no individual wells.

The developer will be required to monitor groundwater for a year.

Developer Preston Schell said proposed road improvements are still in play and will depend on what area residents and Delaware Department of Transportation officials want. Among the proposals are a cul-de-sac at the eastern end of Tulip Drive and upgrades to the Route 1 traffic signal to make it fully operational. Currently, the signal is manually operated by a Delaware State Police trooper to assist with traffic control only during St. Jude church services.

“I stand ready and willing to assist them with any of the changes outlined in our condition of approval that they would like me to pursue,” Schell said.