School Lane project gets preliminary approval
At its March 20 meeting, the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission approved a preliminary site plan for School Lane Apartments, located off Route 24 adjacent to Love Creek Elementary School.
The complex on a 22-acre parcel will comprise 201 units in six four-story buildings. A total of 51 units will be designed as workforce housing under the Sussex County Rental Program. The complex is 75,516 square feet.
There will be 45 one-bedroom, 125 two-bedroom and 31 three-bedroom apartments. In the SCRP section of the complex, there will be 11 one-bedroom, 32 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom apartments.
The project is located in the Henlopen Transportation Improvement District, which requires developer Jack Lingo Asset Management to pay a fee per unit for road improvement projects in the district.
Amenities include a pool, clubhouse, walking path and dog park. More than six acres of an existing 9-acre wooded area will be preserved.
The project will have buffers, a sidewalk and a shared-use path along Route 24, and 13 acres of open space.
A 2-acre section of nontidal wetlands will remain undisturbed and be protected by a 30-foot buffer. A 20-foot perimeter buffer is planned along borders with the school and the Saddle Ridge and Belle Terre subdivisions.
Access to the parcel from Route 24 will be School Lane, which will be shared with the elementary school.
The final site plan will be reviewed and approved by planning & zoning staff when all agency approvals have been submitted.
Rezoning and conditional-use applications for a previous 80-unit multifamily housing project were denied by Sussex County Council in May 2023. However, a request to change the land designation to Coastal Area was approved.
The rental program
Under the amended rental ordinance, projects are considered by right and do not require a public hearing, but do require a planning & zoning commission site-plan review. Projects must still be reviewed by state agencies in the Office of State Planning Coordination’s Preliminary Land Use Service.
Projects must contain at least 25% units in the program, have central water and sewer, and contain 50% open space.
Developers receive expedited review of their plans, incentives and design flexibility, and up to 12 units per acre.
The affordable rentals will go for less than market rate, and renters must meet income guidelines based on 80% of area median income, which is $94,600 per year.
That’s $56,900 annual income for two people, $64,000 for a three-member family and $71,100 for a four-member family.
