Neighbors speak out against Lewes senior-living facility

Most, but not all, residents were against a rezoning request to allow a proposed senior-living facility in Lewes at a Jan. 18 public hearing. Traffic, impact on already stressed infrastructure and nuisance to neighbors were the common threads. 

OA Vantage Point LLC is proposing a three-story 74,000-square-foot senior-living facility on a 9.34-acre parcel along Kings Highway. The plan calls for 80 independent living units, 63 assisted-living units and 32 units for memory care. To move forward, the developer is seeking to rezone the land from R-2, low-density residential, to CFHC, community facilities health care. 

The developer is also seeking to rezone an adjacent 7.11-acre parcel, fronting Savannah Road, from R-2 to LC, limited commercial. The intent is to build two two-story, 30,000-square-foot medical/professional offices that would offer complementary services to the senior-living facility. 

Council will accept written comments until Thursday, Feb. 1. Council will likely make a decision on the rezoning requests at its Monday, Feb. 12 meeting. 

Jim Fuqua, an attorney representing the developer, said OA Vantage Point’s primary objective in making the two requests is to construct the senior-living facility. He said Preston Schell of Ocean Atlantic Companies and Greg Stevens of Vantage Point commissioned a market study that found the area lacked facilities for the senior population seeking to age in place.

He said the latest census indicates 43.6 percent of Lewes’ population is 65 or older, with a median age of 63. 

Nearly all residents of Henlopen Gardens, which borders the entire length of the two parcels, spoke against the rezoning requests. 

Carroll Snyder, president of Henlopen Gardens Homeowners Association, said the senior-living facility would likely increase water usage, sewage and solid waste production. He said it would also increase traffic, road maintenance and use of emergency services. 

“Depending on the severity of theses impacts, our taxes may increase and property values decrease,” he said. 

He also argued the facility is out of scale with Lewes and should be built in a suitable place outside of Lewes. 

“Lewes is a very small town and we’re getting a very large facility,” he said. “It is just too big for a city the size of Lewes.” 

Henlopen Gardens resident Eileen Snyder said the facility would likely have bright lights overnight and noise 24 hours a day. She also warned the facility may accommodate the baby boomers now, but may have to seek other uses as the senior population decreases. 

Henlopen Gardens resident Abbey Feierstein was the only person to speak in favor of the senior-living facility. 

“While ideally I’d love to see this parcel remain open space, I suspect from an economic perspective that that’s a dream,” she said. “I would much rather have a community healthcare facility built adjacent to Henlopen Gardens than a residential community. I believe we already have enough residential communities.” 

The objective for the offices on the Savannah Road side of the property would be to offer services for the residents of the senior-living facility, Fuqua said. He said the developer would prefer to see the space used for medical, legal and tax offices. 

“Those are typically 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday offices,” he said. “They’re not the same as a high-intensity retail [shopping center].”

The planning commission voted against rezoning the parcel to limited commercial. With that in mind, Fuqua asked that if council followed suit, council would provide guidance as to what they’d prefer to see on the property. 

He said if the developer were to seek workforce housing, a more affordable option, it would likely seek R-5, mixed residential zoning, which provides for multifamily and affordable housing alternatives. The Kings Highway side of Henlopen Gardens is zoned R-5, but the Savannah Road side, directly adjacent to the property, is zoned R-2. 

Carroll Snyder said limited commercial zoning could open the door for a variety of uses, including a strip mall and gas station. 

“If the zoning goes through as requested, they could put almost anything on that property,” Snyder said. “

The table of permitted uses in city code shows limited commercial is quite limited. Gas stations are not allowed. Neither are restaurants, shopping centers, banks, manufacturing facilities, libraries, museums, schools, rec facilities, theaters, adult day care, car repair shops and others. Retail spaces under 10,000 square feet are permitted, as are a number of residential options.  

Eileen Snyder said she’d prefer to see the land remain R-2. 

“R-2 can accommodate quarter-acre lots and that space can have probably 25 to 28 homes of similar value as we have in our [community],” she said. “We don’t have to be surrounded by town homes.”