Sussex planning commission declines to endorse Lewes byway plan

When asked to support the Lewes Scenic and Historic Byway Corridor Management Plan, Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Bob Wheatley said it’s an endorsement county council should make.

When asked if the byway committee could receive notification of new development plans near the byway before public hearings in order to provide comments, Wheatley responded the same way.

“The direction would have to come from the group the next step up,” Wheatley said. “That's a decision county council would have to make if it's something they want to happen. I'm sure it can be done, but that's not our decision. We serve at their pleasure; our role is limited.”

The requests were made during a presentation by byway committee chairwoman Gail van Gilder and transportation engineer Jeff Greene at the Jan. 14 planning and zoning commission meeting. Van Gilder said getting plans ahead of time would help the committee provide input before applications reach the county council hearing stage. “DelDOT does notify us now,” she said.

Van Gilder said a similar presentation had already been made to county council. Following that presentation, she was directed to the planning and zoning commission.

Wheatley said the commission would take its cue from county council.

“I would hope you send this back with a measure of support to county council,” van Gilder said.

Commission attorney Vince Robertson said the byway plan could potentially be included in the transportation element of the county’s comprehensive land-use plan that will be updated over the next two years.

“We would like to have a conversation with planning and zoning on your endorsement and support of this plan,” said Greene, transportation planner for Delaware Greenways. “This commission has a lot of say in what Sussex County is going to look like in the coming years and a lot of say within our byway corridor. We want to work with you so the characteristics of the byway are preserved.”

Green noted that 50 percent of the designated byway falls within the unincorporated area around Lewes. Van Gilder said the committee is being expanded to include more members who live outside Lewes city limits. “This is not just a City of Lewes project,” she said.

The Corridor Management Plan was endorsed by the City of Lewes on Sept. 14, 2015, and on Oct. 19, 2015, by state transportation officials. At the request of Councilwoman Joan Deaver, R-Rehoboth Beach, the county approved a grant of $7,000 to help fund work for the corridor management plan.

The goal of the byway is to preserve and enhance significant and historic resources along the designated byway with the byway committee playing a role in the planning process of any development that may occur along the byway. Van Gilder said the committee will encourage design features to preserve the byway.

The Lewes byway includes New Road, Savannah Road, Kings Highway, Gills Neck Road, Cape Henlopen Drive and Pilottown Road.

Greene said the plan includes updated and unique design elements for each road. For example, he said, the plan recognizes Kings Highway as a developing road with some open space that is destined for future development. “We would like see the character of Lewes come out along the roadway and not the character of Route 1 into the area,” he said.

To accomplish that, the plan includes a detailed landscaping plan. Other proposed projects in the plan include access to the marsh at the end of Pilottown Road, a Savannah Road streetscape project from the canal bridge to the beach and improved linkage to Lewes trails.

Greene said one of the main goals of the corridor management committee is to have input on any type of development, transportation or utility project or tourism initiative along the byway.

Greene said the plan is not a regulatory document and would not impact anyone’s property rights. “It works on the force of persuasion,” Greene said. DelDOT considers corridor management plans as policy documents because they are developed at the grassroots level by citizens who live along and near the byway.

Greene said the corridor management plan is not a land-use plan. “It's how the roads are going to look in respect to the character of the area,” he said.

“It's design and landscaping,” van Gilder added.