It takes three rounds to table Arbor-Lyn vote

Sussex County Council has tabled a final decision on a conditional-use application for the Arbor-Lyn community along Warrington Road near Rehoboth Beach. Developer Lockwood Design and Construction Inc. has proposed 202 units on a wooded, 35-acre parcel between Route 24 and Old Landing Road.

After two votes to reduce density of the development failed, with council split 2-2, Council President Mike Vincent, R-Seaford, recommended tabling the matter until Councilwoman Joan Deaver, D-Rehoboth Beach, was in attendance. Council then voted a third time, 4-0, to postpone the vote. Deaver missed the Nov. 28 meeting due to illness. Three votes are needed to pass council motions.

The density issue was at the heart of council’s debate.

During its April 14 meeting, the county's planning and zoning commission voted 4-0 recommending approval of the rezoning from agricultural-residential, AR-1, to medium-density residential, MR, which allows four units per acre. The developer also sought a conditional use to allow 202 units of multifamily housing. Council had previously approved the rezoning request, but it deferred on the conditional-use application, which seeks m

Making the motion at the planning and zoning commission meeting, Commissioner Marty Ross said the proposed 5.7 units per acre for the project was consistent with the surrounding area.

Councilman George Cole, R-Ocean View, disagreed. He said four units to an acre was a more appropriate density because traffic in the area is already congested. According to a Delaware State Planning Coordination Preliminary Land Use Service report, at 202 units, the project would generate 1,525 average daily vehicle trips.

Lawrence Lank, the county's director of planning and zoning, said other developments in the area range from 4.12 units per acre to 6.33 units per acre.

Cole said council needs to learn from decisions made in the past. “It's those densities that have created serious issues with traffic. To use those densities to make a decision is a crazy path to follow,” he said. “At four units to an acre, we are doubling the density; that's being very generous,” he said.

The parcel was originally zoned AR-1, which allows a maximum of two units to an acre. MR zoning allows up to four units per acre without a conditional use for additional units.

In Cole's motion for a maximum of four units to an acre, he and Vincent voted in favor while councilmen Rob Arlett, R-Frankford, and Sam Wilson, R-Georgetown, voted against the motion.

Then Wilson proposed 4.5 units per acre, and he and Arlett voted in favor, while Cole and Vincent voted against the motion.

At four units to an acre, the project would have been reduced from 202 units to 141 units; at 4.5 units per acre, it would be reduced from 202 units to 159 units.

Wilson asked if the issue was parking. That statement drew annoyance from Cole. “No Sam, density is the problem,” he said, adding more density in the area only makes an existing traffic problem worse. “We are supposed to be knowledgeable. We should have learned by now. We are sending the wrong message. Gentlemen, you have to start addressing the density issue.”

The conditional-use application is on council's Tuesday, Dec. 6 agenda.

The site plan includes 60 single-family lots and 142 multifamily units – 60 apartment-style condominiums and 82 townhouses. More than 20 acres of the parcel's 35 acres would be open space.

Traffic issues and the loss of woods during construction were the two major concerns expressed by residents during public hearings. The entire 35-acre site is wooded. Gene Bayard, the applicant's attorney, testified the developer has a history of saving trees during construction and as many trees as possible would be preserved.

In addition, besides road frontage improvements along Warrington Road, the developer would be required to contribute to a fund along with other area developers for road improvements at the Old Landing Road-Warrington Road intersection and possibly for improvements at the Route 24-Warrington Road intersection. The developer was not required to provide a traffic impact study because the project is expected to generate less than 2,000 vehicle trips per day, but the developer would have to contribute $15,000 to a future area-wide traffic study.