County vote on Governors gate removal could come Dec. 17

Katie and Paul Capriolo moved their young family from Maryland to a townhouse in the Governors condominiums near Lewes two years ago for a more peaceful environment, close to the beach and walking trails.

Since then, they and their neighbors have been fighting to ensure that two gates separating Governors from the planned adjacent Village Center shopping center and Village Center Cottages are not removed and a roadway between them opened to the public.

“One of the big draws to become residents full time is the safety of the communities in Delaware and here in Lewes,” Katie Capriolo said. “My kids can play outside with their friends and I know they’re safe.”

Neighbors convinced Sussex County Council a year ago to require the gates, which the Capriolo family can see from their house, to remain in place.

Council could vote as soon Tuesday, Dec. 17, on a request by the developer to remove a requirement for the gates from the site plan.

During a public hearing Dec. 10, nobody spoke in favor of the request, but several Governors residents urged council to keep the gates in place to protect their 432-unit development.

Robert Valihura Jr., a lawyer representing the Governors Condominium Association, said the ongoing housing expansion created by the developers resulted in traffic congestion on nearby roads, and removing the gates will create a shortcut to ease the congestion.

“[The developers] want you to fix their problem on my clients’ backs,” Valihura said.

David Hutt, a lawyer representing Jack Lingo Asset Management and J.G. Townsend Jr. & Co., explained the lengths the developer went to in making it clear to homebuyers that the connection between the two developments was going to happen. He also noted that the county’s comprehensive plan encouraged connections between developments.

He showed a photo of the gates across a paved access road that ends between the two adjacent sites.

Rick Hanson, an original member and a past president of the Governors Condominium Association, said Dec. 12 that homebuyers did not realize how the connection would affect them. 

“It was conceptual,” he said of the information given to prospective buyers. “The photos in the brochure showed a field with snow geese. We never envisioned it as a bypass, and that’s what it is, a bypass.”

Council delayed its decision Dec. 10, in part to receive a recommendation from the county planning & zoning commission, which met the following day. 

The commission voted 3-1 Dec. 11 to back the request to remove the requirement that the gates remain in place. Commissioner J. Bruce Mears cast the only vote against it.  

The commission gave a list of reasons to remove the mandate for the gates, noting the connection was always part of the Governors project, links between developments are encouraged in the county comprehensive plan and homeowners were all informed of the interconnection before they bought their lots.

“Despite this clear directive that this roadway must remain open to all vehicular traffic at all times without obstruction, county council inexplicably added a provision at the end of this condition that a gate could be installed in the roadway,” the recommendations noted. “This addition was in error because this roadway cannot remain open to vehicular traffic at all times without obstruction at the same time that a gate exists.”

“The purpose of interconnectivity is to provide emergency access,” Mears said, in explaining his vote. “A siren-activated gate meets the purpose of interconnectivity. A fob gate will provide access for homeowners.”

He also said traffic congestion on Kings Highway and Gills Neck Road would encourage drivers to use Stockley and Governors boulevards as a shortcut through the neighborhood. That would risk the safety of Governors’ residents and cause additional road maintenance costs from the increased traffic on the road.

Commissioner Gregory Collins said he can appreciate safety concerns, but the gate was clearly part of the plan for the Governors project, and homebuyers should have been aware.

County council will accept written comments from the public on the issue until 4:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 16, and could decide the matter at its meeting at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Hanson said he is frustrated that the planning & zoning commission did not seem to take neighbors’ concerns into account when it recommended removal of the gate.  

“We thought there’d be more appreciation for the safety concerns,” he said.

Capriolo said her children, ages, 5, 6, 7 and 9, cross the road to go the playground, clubhouse and pool, and they walk to the bus stop.

“My top concern is safety,” she said. “We have four children and a dog, and live next to a grassy area that is right there [near the gates]. A lot of the kids play there. There are a lot of families with dogs. People are constantly walking up and down the street to get to the clubhouse.”