Residents, owner’s attorney spar over changes to Donovan-Smith ordinance

The attorney for the owners of the Donovan-Smith Manufactured Home Park said the community will not continue to thrive if Lewes Mayor and City Council adopt changes to a proposed ordinance that would bring the park up to current city code.

The city is now proposing an increase in the separation distance allowed between homes from 16 feet to 20 feet. It is also proposing maximum lot coverage be reduced from 65% to 40%.

Attorney John Paradee addressed a Nov. 30 council workshop on behalf of park co-owner Ken Burnham.

Some Donovan-Smith residents also attended to support the ordinance that they say addresses some of their concerns about fire safety, lot coverage and open space where children could play.

The city annexed Donovan-Smith in 2022, knowing there would be a lengthy process to fix the dilapidated park.

“Why have they let it decline to the state it is in now? We are not their concern; money is their concern,” said resident Carol Parsons.

Paradee said the changes to separation distance and lot coverage would restrict future growth by stifling the flexibility to place manufactured homes where they can fit on the property. 

“It would make it hard to fit all but the smallest single-wides and impossible to have double-wides in the community,” Paradee said.

He said his client has a major problem with the proposed 20-foot separation between units.

“If homes go out and new homes come in, they’re going to have a really hard time meeting that separation distance,” he said.

Residents have been asking to have more separation to improve fire safety.

“If you reduce that distance between the lots, we’re going to end up burning down,” said Parsons.

The fire marshal has said 4 feet would not make a difference in the safety of the community.

Donovan-Smith residents who were at the workshop were also concerned they have never seen a site plan that shows the dimensions of their lots.

Paradee said Delaware law requires a rental agreement to identify lot lines.

“Once this ordinance gets adopted, the conditional-use process will require us to come back to the city with a site plan that shows where all the lots are and the dimensions of those lots,” he said.

Sam Saunders, president of the Donovan-Smith Homeowners Association, said the next step has to be a survey of the park.

“I don’t understand how we can come up with these numbers,” he said. “We’re talking about measuring lots, and I don’t know how we can talk about lot coverage and setbacks without a survey. It tells us everything about what we’re trying to do.”

The city is also proposing lowering the maximum building height from 24 feet to 20 feet and requiring 1.5 acres of open space in the community.

Paradee said Burnham supports those proposed changes.

Residents are adamant that the open space be a place for children to play. But the residents also told council that the proposed ordinance does not address overcrowding.

Burnham wants to increase the number of homes in the community from 88 to 130.

“The traffic now is just unbelievable,” Saunders said. “No one knows how many people live in our community.”

Council will continue the discussion and possibly take action on the changes to the proposed ordinance at its Monday, Dec. 11 meeting.