By Ron MacArthur
ronm@capegazette.com
Lifetime Living LLC has scaled back plans yet again for the Canary Creek development off New Road bordering the University of Delaware’s College of Marine and Earth Studies campus. This time, it appears residents like what they see.
Coming back after the City of Lewes rejected plans in October 2006, the developers have dropped a proposal announced last fall for an 83,000-square-foot recreational facility. They also reduced the number of homes from as many as 140 units to 103 units.
Representatives for the developers presented rescaled plans to city officials during a Monday, June 23 workshop at the Lewes Public Library. Their ideas, which include the donation of nearly 50 acres of land for a park, seemed to meet with approval from many of the residents who attended the workshop. The proposal will require a zoning change, which must be acted on by city officials.
Bill Poulterer, representing Citizens for a Livable Lewes, said the new plan is a step forward from the original proposal.
“The reality is that this land will be developed someday,” he said.
Poulterer said there is a unique opportunity afforded to the residents of Lewes to work with the developer because the housing market is slow and the climate for development in Lewes is not favorable.
“This is the best compromise we will ever get. Now we need to work together and make it a reality,” Poulterer said.
Attorney Glenn Mandalas, representing Lifetime Living, said the developers have met with several community groups and nearby residents over the past year to develop a new plan.
Lewes Mayor Jim Ford said the workshop was not required under the city’s ordinances. “But this a good way to start a dialogue,” he said. He said the plan, which preserves a greenway and provides for 50 acres of open space, reflects some of the land-use concepts city officials have been talking about.
Mark Chura, an independent consultant hired by Lifetime Living, said only one third of the 75-acre parcel would be developed. “The challenge has been to preserve and develop. The owners want to do something outside of the box,” Chura said. “This is a true, limited-development project.”
He said the proposed development would require a zoning change from the community facility district (CFD) to either old town overlay district or open space community development district.
While plans call for about 25 acres to be developed, nearly 50 acres would be donated as parkland either to the City of Lewes or the state. Included in that donation would be 25 acres of wetlands. The land donation has a value of $8 million to $10 million, Chura said.
There would also be three protected archeological sites on the parcel where no building would occur, Chura said.
The development would combine 31 single-family homes and 72 townhomes. The only amenity so far is a walking trail, but tie-ins to whatever park amenities are developed in the future would be considered.
Chura said with a development this size, building a pool and clubhouse would put a burden on the homeowners and drive up costs.
He said the development would be a first for Lewes. “It would provide entry-level homes for the City of Lewes which is an option that doesn’t exist today,” he said.
Single-family homes would sell for $400,000 and townhomes would sell for $300,000.
Under the proposed plan, single-family homes would form an outer ring while townhomes would be in the interior of the development, as requested by nearby residents, Chura said.
A tree line would buffer the development to the southeast, while forested and vegetated buffers would surround the rest of the development and border all wetlands.
Buffers would also be provided around the archeological sites.
Joe Stormer, who lives on Sea Gull Drive in Lewes, said the best solution would be to see the land stay the way it is, but everyone knows it will eventually be developed.
“It could be paved over,” he said. “Under this plan there is minimal impact on the land and it saves the recharge area.”
Stormer said it would be beneficial to save one green corridor for Lewes.
“I would also like to see the [park] land donated to the city,” he said. “I have more faith in the city council than I do the state.”
Some residents raised flooding concerns.
Zac Crouch, an engineer with Davis, Bowen & Friedel, said the area being developed was selected because of its elevation. He said about 25 percent of the developed parcel is in the 100-year flood plain, which means residents in that section will be required to purchase flood insurance.
Another concern raised was the entrance to the development. Crouch said only one entrance/exit is proposed.
He said the developer would pay to have the existing road improved with a new access road provided for the development.
He said to provide another access road would require taking away open-space acreage.
“We would like you to get behind this plan with 103 units with a lot of open space,” Mandalas said to the mayor and council. “If you get behind this concept, we can work out the other details.”
The next step will be for the developers to make a formal request to the City of Lewes for a zoning change.
That will set off a chain reaction of legal procedures including a public hearing.
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