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Request for second-floor restaurant withdrawn

November 28, 2016

An effort to open a new restaurant on Lewes Beach has been delayed until the developer obtains ownership of the property. 

Earlier this year, resident Rick Quill made a request to amend city code to allow for a second-floor restaurant in the general commercial zone when in a flood zone. He said he has a reputable restaurateur on board to open a restaurant at the corner of Savannah Road and Cape Henlopen Drive.

However, the planning commission determined that Quill’s request could not be accommodated because all properties within a specific zoning classification must have uniform rules.

Commissioners determined there were other courses of action Quill could take in order to accomplish his desired result, including rezoning the property to marine commercial, where Quill would be permitted to build a two-floor restaurant. The commission also discussed a larger rezoning effort that could possibly result in several general commercial properties being rezoned to marine commercial. 

The rezoning idea, introduced by the commission, caught the attention of the property’s existing owners, Ed Riggin Sr. and the children of the late Dick Catts. Beth Dorman, speaking on behalf of her father, Ed Riggin, said her father has no desire to rezone the property while he owns it. The property is currently listed for sale by Berkshire Hathaway. 

Because Quill does not own the property, the commission determined it was inappropriate to move forward with any plan to change the zoning. 

Quill reiterated to the commission that he was not seeking rezoning; the idea for rezoning was instead brought to the table by the commission. 

“I never pushed this rezoning change forward,” he said. “I only asked for a second-floor restaurant.”

Planning commission member Drew McKay said commissioners were working under the assumption that Quill was the owner of the property, and no action should be taken until a change of ownership occurs. 

Kay Carnahan, planning commission vice chair, admitted the commission went a little off track.

“We were trying to be helpful, and we ended up going to a place where I don’t think we should be,” Carnahan said.

Quill said he will forge ahead in his attempt to purchase the property with his business partner Joe Johnson. If successful, he said, they will return to the city and likely seek rezoning of the property. 

If the request does end up back on the table, it may have the support from commissioners.

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Nina Cannata, planning commission member. “I think that could [spark] a revitalization on Lewes Beach.” 

The current landowners are not the only ones against rezoning. Donald Wagner Sr., owner of 2 Dips and the Boatel on Savannah Road, who died Nov. 3, also expressed his dislike of a larger rezoning effort on the Lewes Beach side of town – one of the options discussed by the planning commission. Prior to his passing, he met with building inspector Henry Baynum to make it known he wanted his properties along Savannah Road to remain general commercial. 

Baynum said the city’s prohibition on second-floor restaurants in the general commercial zone was adopted in 2011. Restaurants, including Agave’s second-floor lounge on Second Street, are permitted because they existed prior to the regulation. Other two-floor restaurants – Irish Eyes and The Wharf – are permitted because they are in the marine-commercial zone. 

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