Henlopen Bluff decision on hold in Lewes

A decision on the preliminary site plan for the Henlopen Bluff subdivision will have to wait at least another month.

Lewes Mayor and City Council deferred a vote July 8, and, instead, unanimously approved scheduling a public hearing in light of new information it received on two major topics: a vehicular connection between the new development and neighboring Showfield, and the developer’s waiver request to reduce a required corridor buffer. Council said it had received the new information on both topics just hours before the meeting.

Henlopen Bluff is a proposed 79-lot subdivision on a 61-acre parcel along Gills Neck Road, just south of the Freeman Highway bridge. The development also includes nine private boat docks on Lewes-Rehoboth Canal.

The preliminary site plan has ping-ponged between council and the planning commission since the fall.

The planning commission recommended the plan to council earlier this year, with 39 conditions attached. Council remanded 25 of those conditions to the commission for further consideration.

Both bodies have held multiple public hearings.

At the July 8 meeting, council discussed the waiver request from developer Showfield LLC to reduce a required 50-foot corridor buffer on Gills Neck Road to 25 feet.

The development team claims keeping the 50-foot buffer would be a hardship to them and to the city, because changes would have to be made to the site plan.

David Hutt, the developer’s attorney, said they are now willing to contribute $2,000 per lot, a total of $158,000, toward safety improvements on Gills Neck Road in exchange for granting the waiver.

Council said it received a letter from Hutt with the offer that afternoon.

The stretch between Henlopen Bluff and Savannah Road is considered dangerous for bicyclists and pedestrians because there is no sidewalk.

City engineer Charlie O’Donnell of George, Miles & Buhr said a preliminary study showed adding a sidewalk and other improvements would be challenging and could cost more than $1 million.

Mayor Andrew Williams said Gills Neck Road is a state road with a city maintenance contract. It is not clear what the city could do, he said.

“We have to have a clear understanding of who has the right to make those changes and how it would impact the area," said Councilman Joe Elder. "It’s very complex. If we would accept something like [the offer] and we couldn’t follow through, what would be the purpose?”

Council members also said they received late information from Sussex County regarding a proposed vehicular connection between Henlopen Bluff and neighboring Showfield, which is outside city limits.

The planning commission recommended building a stub road for a future vehicular connection.

Showfield residents are staunchly opposed to the connection, calling it the road to nowhere. They support a multi-modal path for pedestrians and bikes.

Councilman Tim Ritzert said when the county approved Showfield in 2012, it required the developer to create a 52-foot easement at the end of Battlemixer Drive, in Showfield, for a vehicular connection to the adjacent parcel, which turned out to be Henlopen Bluff.

“If we do not plan for the future, and anticipate that there might be the need for vehicular interconnectivity, if we don’t make that statement at the time that we approve, then there will never be the opportunity for vehicular interconnectivity,” Ritzert said.

But Councilwoman Amy Marasco said there is no reason to build it if it really will be a road to nowhere.

“Is Sussex County really committing to this? If so, is it five years, 20 years? Why do we have to make the developer keep the easement open if it might never be happening?” Marasco said.

Council said it would invite representatives from Sussex County and first responders to the public hearing to discuss the importance of interconnectivity for emergency services.

Mayor and city council also discussed a third topic relating to the site plan: the number of parking spaces that would be required for the boat slips along Gills Neck Road.

The city currently would require 36 spaces, two spaces per slip. The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control would require nine spaces, one for each dock.

Hutt said the developer wants only five parking spaces on the canal side, with the balance being the driveways of the nine lots that would have access to the boat slips. 

Council said it would seek to change the city code to allow the off-premises parking.

Council did not include boat slip parking on the agenda for the public hearing.

The public hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Monday, July 29, at the Rollins Community Center.