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Cape district presents H.O.B. site plan

Questions about boundaries, landscaping and lighting remain
August 24, 2016

Plans are moving forward on the new H.O. Brittingham Elementary School in Milton, but members of the town's planning and zoning commission want more details about lighting and landscaping before granting the project its first round of approvals.

During a public hearing on the preliminary site plan Aug. 16, representatives from the Cape Henlopen School District said the proposed $27.8 million school is nearly identical to the 720-student Love Creek Elementary School under construction on Route 24.

A second meeting to discuss landscaping, lighting, other site plan details and preliminary site plan approval is set for Tuesday, Sept. 20.

Several neighbors complained they were unaware of the school district's plan, although more than 60 meetings were held before nearly 6,000 residents voted in a March 2016 referendum requesting funding for construction.

“I love having the school as a neighbor, but I don't know what the new school is going to be like. I don't know what the traffic patterns are going to be,” said Milton resident Ginny Weeks. “I need to know these things, and I have no way of knowing it.”

Milton Project Coordinator John Collier said site plan documents are available for viewing at Milton Town Hall.

The new school will be built on the property behind the existing 50-year-old H.O. Brittingham Elementary School on Mulberry Street in Milton, next to Shipbuilder’s Village. Construction must begin next year to meet the proposed move-in date of fall 2018, said Brian Bassett, the school district's director of facility operations and construction.

However, there is a concern that the back quarter of the property, which also houses one of the town's water towers, technically is not in town limits. Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Barry Goodinson said if that portion of the property has not been annexed into town, the commission does not have the authority to approve that portion of the site plan.

Sussex County Planning and Zoning Director Lawrence Lank said Aug. 17 he has not yet found documentation to determine whether the rear section of the property falls within town limits.

Lank said the town might have to annex the section, but he would search for additional documentation to see if the oddly placed boundary line is an error. He said H.O. Brittingham Elementary was constructed three years before the county adopted zoning, which may have played a role in the confusion.

Construction of the new school also will require relocation of a water main that runs directly beneath the proposed location for the building, on the back part of the property.

The district is expected to come back to the commission for a special-use exception and final site plan approval in October.

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