State reviews Milton annexation proposal
State agencies met Feb. 26 to review a proposal to annex 26 acres of land into Milton for the purpose of building 239 residential units and 20,000 square feet of commercial space on Route 16.
It was a short meeting at Haslet Armory in Dover as the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service, or PLUS, asked questions on the request by developer Milton Attainable Housing LLC and wrapped up business in about 15 minutes.
The agencies that make up PLUS, Delaware Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Office of State Planning Coordination, among others, will release an advisory report by Wednesday, March 25.
Among the agency suggestions were installing pedestrian pathways connecting to Broadkill Road, where DART is planning to have a future bus stop, and home sprinkler protection in all the proposed buildings.
Milton Attainable Housing, a joint project between developer Preston Schell and Rehoboth Beach restaurateur Eric Sugrue, is proposed as three, three-story apartment buildings and two, two-story townhouses along with six pad sites for commercial businesses.
The residential units are planned for rentals only, primarily aimed at retirees. Concurrent with the annexation, Schell and Sugrue have also requested to rezone the annexed parcel to R-3, general and multifamily residential use.
Meanwhile, Milton officials are continuing their own review of the project weighing the potential benefits of annexation.
After hearing from Schell and Sugrue on Jan. 30, the town’s special review committee has held subsequent meetings with Tidewater Utilities, and the fire and police departments. Representatives from all three said providing services to the property would not be an issue.
“We’re going to get called either way,” Police Chief Robert Longo said. “I don’t see it impacting the police department immensely.”
Fire department Chairman Johnny Hopkins said, “If it’s in our fire district, we have to cover it. We have to service it one way or another.”
During the Feb. 13 meeting of the committee, Town Manager Kristy Rogers said the town does not know how many rooms each residential unit will have, but that information should come out once a site plan is submitted.
Schell has said that the development would look similar to Beach Plum Dunes in Lewes.
“This is going to be a self-contained community,” committee member Richard Trask said. “The roads and the public areas in this community are not going to be deeded over to the town. They’re going to take care of all the property, all of the rentals.”
Councilman Michael Cote said at the Feb. 13 meeting, “At this point we can’t judge too many of the details because they are possibly going to change, in terms of the layouts.”
The committee is holding weekly meetings to determine the proposed annexation and development’s impact on the town. The committee will eventually provide a report to town council for public meetings on whether to approve the annexation.
Council is expected to receive the report by the end of March. After council debates the report, Milton Attainable Housing would then submit a site plan to the planning and zoning commission.
“That’s when the details will really come out,” Cote said.
