Lewes Beach Parking Committee members at odds

A Lewes committee is no longer looking into encroachments on the city’s right of way on Lewes Beach streets.

After spending several weeks analyzing potential obstructions, the city’s beach parking committee abruptly stopped after a majority of members raised questions about the amount of time the effort was taking and its overall purpose.

“I’m a little concerned we may not have sufficient time to address all the other issues in our charge,” said Kevin McGuiness, noting the deadline to send a report to mayor and city council is Feb. 1. “The committee should not be expected to make recommendations about specific impediments that need to be removed. That is the work of the city, the staff and its council.”

The city hired Atlantic Surveying and Mapping LLC of Harbeson to define the right of way for every street between Cedar Street and Bay Avenue from Savannah Road to Roosevelt Inlet. The work included staking the corners of each property, marking them digitally via GIS and taking multiple photographs of each property. A lengthy report with all the findings was sent to the city and can be found on the city’s website.

The beach parking committee used the report to begin noting all objects and encroachments into the city’s right of way, spending three meetings discussing potential issues street by street, property by property.

Committee member Khalil Saliba said the group was wading into murky territory that made him uncomfortable. By noting every single object that sits in the city’s right of way, he said he’s worried the city’s approach to removal would be arbitrary.

“The feedback I’ve received from Lewes Beach residents – it’s been overwhelming – they’re concerned the city is going to take part of their property away but not touch another piece of property,” he said. “I don’t want to be a defendant in a lawsuit.”

Councilman Rob Morgan, committee chair, said he will send the information gathered to city council. Instead of discussing encroachment issues on specific properties, he said, the committee should develop a policy for when obstructions should be removed from the right of way. Within the policy, he said, there could be criteria for when obstructions should be left alone, such as if landscaping encroaches but removing it would not create more parking, or if an old tree sits within the right of way but does not impact line of sight for motorists.

The committee will continue discussing a possible policy at its next meeting Monday, Jan. 4.

Paper street parking

A majority of the committee took a similar stance when discussing allowing parking on paper streets along Cape Henlopen Drive. There are several areas between homes along Cape Henlopen Drive – most about 50 feet wide – that the city owns but that remain vacant and natural. They appear on the Sussex County tax map as streets, but they do not exist as such.

As a way to provide additional parking for beachgoers, the committee spent a few hours discussing if the paper street areas were suitable for parking.

Former Councilman Dennis Reardon, a beach resident who serves on the committee, said the group was getting ahead of itself.

“This issue was before mayor and council a number of years ago and there was tremendous opposition from residents, and the city did not go forward,” he said. “A number of property owners are not aware this is being reconsidered. We have not gotten their input.”

Reardon said a parking area next to a home could have significant impact on property values. Also, he said, most paper streets along Cedar Street were rezoned to open space recently.

“I feel the city should act first on whether they want parking on paper streets,” he said.

Morgan said the committee’s charge from Mayor Ted Becker specifically mentions parking on paper streets, but the majority of the committee voted to suspend that discussion.

Before discussion stopped, city engineer Charlie O’Donnell said the city could convert many of the paper streets to natural-looking parking areas with a stone base and wooden log parking bumpers.

Expanding beach parking lots

In recent meetings, committee members also discussed the possibility of expanding the public beach parking lots, specifically the secondary lot near the intersection of Cape Henlopen Drive and Freeman Highway.

A previous iteration of the beach parking committee discussed adding more spaces to the main beach parking lot, but ultimately decided against it.

Reardon, who was a member of that committee too, said the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control would permit the city to add parking if necessary.

“They said we just need to make sure any sand we take out goes onto the beach,” Reardon said. “I suspect it would be the same for Beach 2.”

City Manager Ann Marie Townshend said the two public parking lots at the beach saw increased usage this summer after the state limited capacity at Cape Henlopen State Park. She said after the lots filled up, many people started parking along Cape Henlopen Drive, which has not happened in the past.

Saliba, who raised the topic, said he isn’t necessarily for or against expansion of the lots, but thought it was worth discussion.

“I certainly don’t want to harm any environmental habitat or ecosystem,” he said. “There’s just a lot of land there.”

More topics to discuss

There are still a few topics for the committee to discuss before finalizing its list of recommendations to mayor and city council. The committee briefly discussed expanding the right-of-way survey to the Lewes Beach streets on the canal side of Cedar Street. Members unanimously voted to recommend council move ahead.

“I certainly think it needs to happen,” Saliba said. “I believe there are many more cars that park on the canal side than they do between Cedar and Bay. There just isn’t a lot of parking between Cedar and Bay.”

An estimate on the survey cost will be presented at the committee’s Monday, Jan. 4 meeting. Also on the agenda that night is a discussion regarding a parking permit system for Lewes Beach. A link to the meeting can be found at lewes.civicweb.net.

Charge of committee

The committee shall consider all possible options related to vehicle parking along Cedar Street and all streets between Cedar and Bay Avenue as well as other city-owned lands located in the area. The committee will also consider vehicle parking along Cape Henlopen Drive.

Consideration shall include:

• The need for emergency vehicle access
• The need to maintain right of way as identified by the survey conducted by Atlantic Surveying and Mapping
• Methods of administering any possible parking management system, including permits
• Need to provide required distance from intersections to ensure pedestrian and vehicle safety