Push to reclassify tiny streets in Lewes

Lewes City Councilman Joe Elder set out on his bike with phone in hand. He was on a mission to take pictures and video of the city’s narrowest streets that also have some of the city’s widest driveways.

Elder, and fellow Councilman Tim Ritzert, want to convince their colleagues and constituents that Lewes needs to reclassify those tiny thoroughfares. They say alleys should be alleys, streets should be streets.

Elder and Ritzert presented their proposal at a city council workshop and special meeting June 27.

“The problem is all streets are considered streets. We know there are uniquenesses with some of the roadways,” Elder said. “We’re trying to make our code more responsive to our community members.”

Elder says requiring standard curb cuts is appropriate for streets, but not alley-like roadways.

He said, for example, if a property owner resurfaces their driveway, city code requires them to comply with a 12-foot-wide curb cut. He said noncompliant driveways are the norm, not the exception.

The solution that Elder and Ritzert are proposing is to classify alleys separately from streets, relieve the city and property owners from complying with street driveway regulations and relieve property owners from having to file an appeal with the board of adjustment. The filing fee is $1,250 with no guarantee of a positive outcome.

Elder said the change would impact 326 parcels on 11 streets.

Elder singled out Roadline Avenue to possibly be excluded, citing the amount of traffic that turns off Gills Neck Road to access city hall and downtown.

The councilmen’s revised definition of an alley would include the following:

• Is a one-way road

• Does not provide access to public property

• Has no legal parking on the roadway.

Elder said the process started two years ago when some residents were having trouble getting relief from city code relating to driveway entrances. The code says entrances can be no more than 12 feet wide, but some driveways on the streets Elder listed are as wide as 40 feet.

“If you live in one of those areas and you have to be burdened by this challenge that if you want to modify your driveway, then be restricted on your entrance that you’ve been using with the wider entrance for decades, that’s a real imposition,” Elder said.

Julie Carey lives on Shipcarpenter Square. She and other residents who live on some of the streets in question spoke in support of the proposal.

“We need width, not depth,” Carey said. “It will allow it to remain the same if we make modifications, like adding permeable material to our driveways.”

Mayor and city council referred the proposal to the Lewes Planning Commission, which is expected to discuss it at its meeting Wednesday, July 17.