Council sets hearing for Lewes Ice House rezoning

A rezoning request for the Ice House property in Lewes will be discussed at a February public hearing, nine months after the city’s planning commission recommended approval. 

The lengthy gap is a result of confusion over what’s allowable under the requested R-4 zoning.  

Local businessmen Joe Johnson and Rick Quill approached the city last April with an idea to build 12 duplexes (24 units) on an industrially zoned 2.11-acre parcel at 110 New Road, near Pilottown Road. Quill submitted a rezoning application to change the zoning to R-4, medium-density residential. 

Quill says city Building Inspector Henry Baynum advised him that two-family duplexes were allowable under R-4; however, it was discovered after the planning commission’s positive recommendation in May that two-family homes require a minimum lot size of 2.5 acres, meaning no duplexes are permitted on a 2.11-acre lot. 

After the oversight was discovered, the public hearing planned for July was canceled, and the rezoning request was shelved. But City Solicitor Glenn Mandalas said that was a mistake because a developer’s specific plan for a parcel should never be a factor when considering a rezoning request. 

“There is no guarantee that if this property is rezoned to R-4 that there will be duplexes built there,” he said. “What specific development is being presented shouldn’t be in consideration, because once there is a zoning change, any use in the list of permitted uses could be allowed on that property.”

Planning Commission Chair Mike Mahaffie said it was difficult for his group to differentiate the rezoning request and the proposed plan. 

“We made an attempt to divorce our discussion from any discussion of the site plan,” he said. “Unfortunately, once that thing was shown, it was very difficult to do that because every time we had a discussion about what was possible under R-4, people kept coming back to that site plan.” 

In an attempt to make the proposed plan allowable, Quill asked council to consider review and possible revision of the R-4 requirements for minimum lot size as it pertains to two-family dwellings. That agenda item was tabled until after a vote on the rezoning request. 

The proposed plan for the property brought pushback from neighbors, who argue the density of R-4 is too high for the area - 6,000-square-foot lots per duplex or 5,000-square-foot lots for single dwellings versus the 10,000-square-foot minimum requirement under the R-2 zoning that surrounds the parcel. Residents are also quick to point out that R-4, as stated in the code, is intended for development adjacent to the city’s town center. The city’s zoning map shows R-4 is confined to the city’s historic district and downtown. 

“It seems to me, for very obvious reasons, that this [property] doesn’t qualify for R-4,” said Pilottown Road resident John Mateyko, hoping council would not move forward with a public hearing. “I’ve found that attorneys know how to parse these words beyond ordinary meanings.”

Mandalas said the code is very clear that there is a process to follow and a public hearing must be held. He said once the applicants submitted a rezoning request and paid the necessary fee, they are entitled to due process. 

“We, as a municipal body, are obligated to follow through with the application and procedure set out by the code, which includes holding a public hearing,” he said. 

Councilman Rob Morgan disagreed with Mandalas’ opinion and was the only member of council to vote against a motion to set a public hearing.

“I think the meaning of adjacent is so obvious that we’ll have no alternative when the hearing has concluded but to deny the application,” he said. “I don’t see the point of a public hearing in those circumstances.” 

The public hearing was set for 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28, at city hall.