Another hearing set for Osprey Point
Yet another public hearing will be scheduled on a proposed plan for cluster housing complex Osprey Point along Old Landing Road near Rehoboth Beach.
At their Feb. 19 meeting, Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission members agreed that a new amended plan contained too many changes and requires another hearing. Commissioner George Scott Collins made the motion to defer a decision.
“There are enough changes to warrant another public hearing,” he said.
Chair Bob Wheatley agreed that homeowners purchase their homes based on a site plan, and when the final plan deviates too much from the original plan, another hearing can be scheduled.
A previous amended site plan included a 25-slip public marina and a 3,259-square-foot restaurant with parking.
Commissioners and county council voted in favor of the plan in June 2020, omitting the restaurant and changing the marina to private use by homeowners only.
The developer then filed another amended site plan.
County Planning & Zoning Director Jamie Whitehouse outlined the proposed changes to the new amended site plan, including a harbormaster office, kayak storage area, additional parking and a walking path without a restaurant.
Whitehouse said the plan does not include screening from lighting in the parking areas, which needs to be part of the final site plan. As of Feb. 27, a new hearing has not been scheduled.
Project dates back nine years
The original site plan for the project, approved in November 2016, included 217 single-family home lots on 127 acres, but not a restaurant or marina. An amended site plan was then filed containing the marina and restaurant.
The community on the site of the former Old Landing Golf Course is under construction.
Final plans for the marina must be approved by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. DNREC spokesman Michael Globetti said the plan crosses state and federal jurisdictional wetlands along the shoreline using wetland walkways, but no filling of wetlands to create a beach is proposed.
The original application included a retaining wall 3 feet landward of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 404 wetland boundary, intended to hold a “sandbox” style beach on uplands to prevent sand from reaching the wetlands. However, this beach will not connect directly to Arnell Creek due to the presence of jurisdictional wetlands along the shoreline.
The pending permit application with the DNREC Wetlands and Waterways Section will move through the regulatory process and toward DNREC scheduling a public hearing once final updates to the application are made and submitted to the department, Globetti said.
The marina on Arnell Creek plan includes a launching area for motorized watercraft, including pontoon and small runaround boats less than 24 feet with shallow drafts.
The plan includes two sections of docks, and a floating dock to be used for a kayak and paddleboard launch.
Buffers of 50 feet along tidal wetlands and 25 feet along nontidal wetlands are planned.
Timeline
November 2016 - Original site plan approved
January 2023 - P&Z approves amended preliminary plan with a marina and restaurant
May 2023 - Planning & zoning recommends approval of amended plan including marina and restaurant
September 2023 - Sussex County Council conducts hearing on amended plan
November 2023 - County council approves plan without restaurant and residential use of marina only
February 2025 - Second amended plan reviewed by planning & zoning. Commission recommends another set of public hearings.
Reporter Bill Shull contributed to this report.
