How does Sussex define a dwelling?

The fate of a proposed RV park and campground in Massey's Landing could hinge on a single word: dwelling.

As defined in the dictionary, the word dwelling is “a building or place of shelter to live in; a place of residence; abode, home.”

A related word included in the definition is “mobile home.”

But that may not be the case in Sussex County. During a May 23 public hearing on a pair of applications for the proposed RV park, Castaways at Massey's Landing, assistant county attorney Vince Robertson read the definition of dwelling in the code: “A building or portion thereof containing cooking and housekeeping facilities, designed or used exclusively for residential occupancy, but not including manufactured homes, hotels, motels, motor lodges, boarding- and lodging houses, tourist courts or tourist homes.”

So why does the definition of dwelling matter? Once again, Sussex County code comes into play.

According to code, campsites must be at least 400 feet from the nearest dwelling and at least 100 feet from the nearest road.

The proposed Castaways at Massey's Landing campground's site plan shows RV sites adjacent to a proposed 50-foot buffer and the adjoining Pot Nets Dockside, Pot Nets Seaside and Massey's Landing Park manufactured home communities.

If manufactured home are not dwellings, the developer would be permitted to construct RV lots about 50 to 60 feet from manufactured homes in the adjacent community. At least 30 of the proposed campsites are situated along buffers and many more would be within 400 feet of manufactured homes.

But, there may be a wrinkle in the developer's plans, as testimony at the four-hour hearing revealed.

James Chillik, a resident of Massey's Landing Park, said he lives in a stick-built house, pays county property taxes on a single-family home and has residential insurance. “It's a two-story home and not a manufactured home,” he said.

In addition, a check of Sussex County code confuses the matter even further. In several sections in the code, manufactured homes are referred to as dwellings.

In AR-1 zoning, “a manufactured home, used as a single-family dwelling, and originally placed and permitted on a property of five acres or more prior to March 25, 1997, may be permitted as a special- use exception on a property of less than 5 acres.”

And, in reference to Ordinance 2152, the term dwelling is used to describe factory-built modular homes as well as manufactured homes.

The developers, Ida Faucett and Ida Faucett Heirs LLC and Massey's Landing Park Inc., have filed applications for a zoning change on a 51-acre parcel from MR, medium-density residential, to AR-1, agricultural residential, and a conditional-use to allow the campground. A campground is not permitted in MR zoning. The developers plan to keep the property in Faucett family ownership as a multigenerational land-use project.

The proposed campground at the end of Long Neck Road would contain 322 RV sites and 10 tent camping sites. Planned amenities include a swimming pool; pavilions; general store; welcome center; dog park; cafe and snack bar; bath houses; nature center; two lodges; fishing and crabbing piers; rental center for golf carts; DART bus stop; and a rental center for kayaks, canoes and other nonmotorized watercraft.

See more about the four-hour public hearing in the Friday, May 31 edition.