Showfield to break ground by summer
Site work for Showfield, a subdivision just outside Lewes, is expected to begin this summer.
At its April 9 meeting, Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to approve the final site plan for the community, with two revisions: an area along the border with the Breakwater community will be used to extend the Junction and Breakwater Trail, and a revised street layout was needed to accommodate the trail.
Showfield LLC plans to construct 166 homes on 132 acres of unincorporated land along Gills Neck Road across from the Wolfe Pointe community.
The developer has revamped the plans, eliminating more than 350 units, reducing the size of the project by 90 acres.
A fire that destroyed one of two historic barns on the property and controversy over extension of the trail on the Showfield parcel recently pushed the project into the spotlight. One of two landmark barns on the parcel – planned for use as a community center – burned to the ground Feb. 6; three teenagers have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the case.
Developers say the remaining barn will be used as a community center.
Minimum lot sizes will be 13,000 square feet. The plan includes a 20-foot wooded buffer around the perimeter of the community, a 50-foot buffer near a small section of wetlands and woods and a 50-foot buffer alongside farmland.
Water will be provided by the Lewes Board of Public Works, and sewer will be provided by Sussex County.
The developer will be required to improve parts of Gills Neck Road in front of the development to include two, 11-foot travel lanes, 5-foot shoulders and a 10-foot pathway. The community's entrance will be across from the Wolfe Pointe entrance. A 15-foot right-of-way will be dedicated for a future multimodal path along the road.
The project has a history dating back almost 10 years, when it was first proposed before City of Lewes officials as a 607-unit community on 230 acres between Gills Neck Road and Freeman Highway, which would have included the annexation of a 139-acre parcel into city limits. About 90 acres of the original tract closest to the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal lies with city limits, but there are no current plans to develop that parcel.
Following more than 50 public meetings with various Lewes boards, committees, the planning commission and council, the developer withdrew the project from Lewes and filed plans with Sussex County.
Trail extension could be open this summer
State transportation officials and developers reached an agreement to extend the Junction and Breakwater Trail through the Showfield community, breaking an impasse that had threatened to hold up completion of the popular cycling and walking trail that connects Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.
Developers Bryce and Bill Lingo agreed to allow the extension to pass through Showfield, from Freeman Highway to Gills Neck Road. The path of the trail will move a few feet from where it had been planned, along the edge of the Breakwater development.
The trail was originally designed to pass through a small section of Showfield and then along the border of Breakwater. As Delaware Department of Transportation started work on the trail, construction within the Breakwater subdivision was halted when homeowners won a lawsuit. The court found DelDOT had no recorded easement to use the Breakwater land for the trail.
At its March 19 meeting, Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a revised conceptual plan for the trail and waived the requirement for a 20-foot forested buffer where the trail would be located. A vegetated buffer will be in place along the trail.
DelDOT officials said work on the trail extension could be completed this summer. Paving of a section of the trail along Freeman Highway is already underway.
