Developer gets six more months to complete clubhouse

The developer of the Vines of Sandhill will have up to six months to complete the community clubhouse.

At its Nov. 3 meeting, the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission approved a request for a second time extension by developer Anthony Sposato. The commission granted an amendment to a May 13, 2021 condition of approval requiring the clubhouse to be constructed within 18 to 24 months. The developer had asked for an extension to finish construction within the first quarter of 2023 due to a delay in getting materials for the project.

Sussex County Planning & Zoning Director Jamie Whitehouse said construction is well underway. He said as of this week, 127 building permits have been issued.

The subdivision along Huff Road off Sand Hill Road near Milton will contain 400 single-family home lots on 261 acres. A separate amenities plan was approved by the planning & zoning commission in February 2018, when a revised plan reducing the size of the clubhouse to 6,685 square feet was approved.

The amenities – including a clubhouse, pool, tennis courts and bocce court – were supposed to be completed within two years after the first building permit was issued. The subdivision was approved in 2008, but the first building permit wasn't issued until 2017.

Over the years, the commission has debated tying the completion of amenities to a specific time period or by the number of building permits. The policy now is to tie amenities completion to the number of building permits, although this project is related to a period of time.

Commissioner Bruce Mears, who is a designer and builder in the Ocean View area, said it's more equitable to require completion based on a construction schedule because of building supply-chain issues.