Overfall Preserve locked in stalemate in Lewes
The proposed Overfall Preserve development has survived another day, after the Lewes Planning Commission rejected an attempt to kill the project altogether.
Early in the Jan. 15 meeting, Commissioner Debra Evalds sought support for a motion to deny the developer’s application based on what she called the lack of a safe entrance and exit onto Savannah Road and the lack of connectivity to Kings Highway.
“We should be presented with a plan that is safe for the City of Lewes residents and visitors, and given the discussion over the traffic on Savannah Road, this isn’t cutting it,” Evalds said.
Overfall Preserve is a proposed 90-unit townhome community on Savannah Road. It would share an entrance and exit with neighboring Dutchman’s Harvest, which is under construction. The Delaware Department of Transportation greenlit the shared entrance as part of the Dutchman’s Harvest approval process.
Those communities are on the western end of a segment of Savannah Road that is getting more crowded, some say dangerous, with the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail crossing and a large volume of customers at Lewes Brewing Company.
Lewes Mayor and City Council voted Jan. 13, to permanently ban parking on eastbound Savannah Road in front of the brewery, citing safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.
If Overfall Preserve is built, traffic would have to wind through Dutchman’s Harvest and the parking lot of the Lodge at Historic Lewes to reach Kings Highway. The Lodge has a written agreement with Dutchman’s Harvest to allow traffic, but not with Overfall Preserve.
Evalds argued that the arrangement is not true interconnectivity and creates a hazard.
“Under Delaware law, students can walk up to a mile, a quarter-mile if they are special education. We know we’re going to have children walking to school. They’ll be on bikes and scooters. I don’t believe it is a safe way to cut through,” she said.
Evalds’ motion failed by a vote of 4-2, with one abstention. Evalds and Commissioner Marylinda Maddi voted to deny the application.
The other commissioners favored adding conditions to the preliminary site plan to try and make it safer.
“There is a lot at stake here, a lot affecting the character and quality of life in our city,” said Commissioner Rich Innes. “We should lean heavily on DelDOT, work collaboratively with them. I’m not convinced safety is being taken into account here.”
Thierry Poirey, the newest member of the commission, said focusing on connectivity to Kings Highway is taking attention away from what he considers to be the real issue.
“If we get rid of our desire to establish connectivity, we resolve a lot of problems: Avoid having traffic drive through those communities and get rid of the stub road. It would be a giant step forward and allow us to focus on the safety in the front of the property,” Poirey said.
The Overfall Preserve site plan shows a possible future connector road from the community through the undeveloped Plummer property to Kings Highway. A stub road would have to be built at the Overfall Preserve property line in preparation for the future link.
George Plummer, owner of the property, was at the meeting and told the commission he is not interested in selling the land for any connector road.
“We have no plans for any development at this time. It’s going to remain as it is, a piece of farmland,” Plummer said.
The Historic Lewes Byway Committee favors a straight-through road between Savannah and Kings.
The commission decided to schedule a special meeting at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29, at the Rollins Center to consider adding conditions to the preliminary site plan.
LPC has reopened the public record and will take comments until 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 24.
The panel has until Wednesday, Feb. 12, to make a decision, which is 120 days since it held a public hearing on the plan.
