Lewes approves Henlopen Bluff preliminary site plan

Lewes Mayor and City Council unanimously approved the preliminary site plan for the proposed Henlopen Bluff subdivision, which includes a controversial vehicular connectionto the adjacent Showfield community.

The vote took place at council’s Sept. 9 meeting.

Henlopen Bluff would be 79-lot development on 61-acres south of the Freeman Highway bridge, along Gills Neck Road.

The Lewes Planning Commission had recommended council approve the vehicular connection. Showfield homeowners had vehemently opposed the road that they said would bring more traffic through their neighborhood. They dubbed it the “road to nowhere,” claiming that even if it was approved it would never be built.

Showfield homeowners supported a 10-foot-wide multi-modal path between the two developments. The city also had the option of approving a 16-foot-wide paved emergency access connection.

Council members Tim Ritzert, Amy Marasco and Joe Elder voted to accept the Lewes Planning Commission’s recommendation to build the full vehicular connection, a 50-foot-wide right of way, with sidewalks.

“I think there needs to be a road there, paved or unpaved,” Elder said.

Mayor Andrew Williams and Deputy Mayor Khalil Saliba voted against the vehicular connection.

“I’m not against maintaining the 52-foot-wide easement. I just think paving it is not the [best option],” Williams said.

The Lewes police and fire chiefs both supported a full, paved road for emergency vehicle access.

Showfield homeowners had said that they would withdraw support for the multi-modal path if council approved the vehicular connection.

Mayor and city council also voted 3-2 to deny a waiver request from developer Showfield LLC to reduce a 50-foot corridor buffer, required by city code, to 25 feet.

“This is really about following code. What would be the logic of changing this application versus a new one that comes in?” said Marasco. “Consistency to code, which [the developer] was very well aware of, should be our governance.”

The developer had offered a proffer of more than $3,545 per lot, about $280,000, toward bike and pedestrian safety improvements on Gills Neck Road from Henlopen Bluff to Savannah Road if the buffer was approved. 

City engineer Charlie O’Donnell had said that those improvements could cost as much as $1.4 million.

“The proffer is generous. But a proffer attached to a specific activity feels a little uncomfortable to me, like a quid pro quo. I’m sure that was not exactly the intent,” Marasco said.

Saliba voted against the motion, saying he thought the developer had made a simple request.

“I don’t see this as a hardship for either side. The buffer is mostly about aesthetics. I don’t see how this reduction harms the aesthetics. I see public interest, city objectives, especially with this generous proffer,” Saliba said.

Council unanimously approved a motion that allows lots 51-59 to count as on-premises parking for boat slips that will be located on the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal, across Gills Neck Road from the subdivision.

Those nine lots will have sole access to the slips.

The approval will allow the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to determine the number of vehicle parking spots, not to exceed nine, on the canal side of the road.

The preliminary site plan includes 35 conditions and two waivers, as recommended by the planning commission. That panel had originally attached 39 conditions to the site plan.  

“As we develop Lewes, there are some complicated parcels,” Williams said. “There were some challenges with this one. There were some areas where we were able to compromise and others where we were not. But in the end, it’s code-compliant, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop the parcel.”