State eyes preservation of New Road tract

Lewes officials have asked the state’s Open Space Council to preserve a large tract of land along New Road. 

Mayor Ted Becker, along with a contingent of Lewes officials and residents, made a plea before the council in Dover Dec. 7, asking the council to continue pursuing a nearly 200-acre parcel owned by Groome United Methodist Church. 

Becker said church officials want to sell the property and use the proceeds to build a larger church and establish an endowment. A developer’s offer is already on the table; however, church officials may be willing to sell the land to the state in order to preserve it. 

“This property is very important, and any further development of it would really have an impact on access to Lewes,” Becker said, noting that Gills Neck Road was once rife with open space but now has 1,900 homes spread across more than a half dozen subdivisions. 

John Schroeder, chair of the Open Space Council, said his group voted at its September meeting to appropriate up to $2 million toward negotiations for a conservation easement on the Groome property. After discussion in executive session Dec. 7, council agreed to leave the appropriated money intact and continue to pursue the easement. Schroeder said council placed a September 2017 deadline on the funds.

Schroeder said a conservation easement, which protects property for conservation, is one avenue available to council. It is preferable to take fee simple ownership of a property and give access to the public, he said, but if that is not possible, council tries to get an easement.

Becker stressed the importance of preserving the land, which is zoned AR-1, agricultural-residential, on Sussex County’s zoning map. Becker said under that zoning, a developer is permitted to build two houses per acre, meaning the Groome property could see 400 new homes. To make matters worse, he said, a developer could seek higher density. 

“That would cause a major choke point on this road,” he said.

If the property is built out, he said, it could also open up for development an adjacent, landlocked property, potentially resulting in hundreds of more homes. 

Gail van Gilder, chair of the Lewes byways committee, pointed to the property’s proximity to the Great Marsh as another reason why the Open Space Council should strongly consider acquiring the property. 

“Flooding is a very big issue on this property,” she said. “Flooding in that area is growing. This property is significant because it’s acting as a huge sponge. If you build this property out, then you’ll be exacerbating the [flooding] issues.”

Becker said the New Road bridge over Canary Creek is already inaccessible during many storms. If the Groome property were developed, he said, the bridge would likely need to be replaced and significant upgrades to New Road would be a must. 

Groome church officials could not be reached for comment.

Schroeder said the Open Space Council’s commitment of $2 million is significant. In a year where the council’s budget is tight – state legislators have cut funding for the program the last two years – Schroeder said council’s commitment shows the property is a priority. 

“I think it sends a message that not only are we interested in this property, but this is how we’re willing to demonstrate that importance,” he said.

If the property is as important to Lewes as Becker says, Open Space Council member C. Porter Schutt III suggested the city get involved financially to up the ante. 

“We have very limited resources,” Schutt said. “We’d love to have help from your constituents. If there is [a lot of] traffic on a Saturday and it’s not what they want in their town, then we need their help.”

Funds to add into the pot could also be obtained from private organizations that also view preservation of the land as important, Schroeder said.

“We try to create partnerships for funding,” he said. “We try and find those entities that have a common goal as us in preserving land.”

Those organizations include The Nature Conservancy as well as a variety of federal entities. 

“In a perfect world we would have enough money,” Schroeder said. “We have to get creative in how we utilize what resources we have. Whether it’s the Groome property or any other property interested in selling to the state, we’re looking at partnerships all the time. Right now, we have extremely low money to work with.”