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UPDATE

Sussex board officially grandfathers Hudson Fields

Events occurred at venue long before Sussex enacted zoning
May 25, 2018

Story Location:
Eagle Crest Road
Route 1
Milton, DE
United States

Hudson Fields near Milton will not be subject to new county rules for special events after it was found to be a grandfathered nonconforming use.

At its May 21 meeting, Sussex County Board of Adjustment voted 4-0 in favor of a request by Hudson Family LLC for a clarification that the venue along Route 1 and Eagle Crest Road is a nonconforming use because events occurred at the site long before the establishment of county zoning in December 1970.

As a grandfathered AR-1, agricultural-residential, parcel, said applicant attorney John Paradee, the venue should not be subject to any new regulations under a new special-events ordinance being considered by county council. Among those regulations is one that no more than three events can occur on one parcel during a year.

Paradee said special events have been occurring continuously on all five parcels at Hudson Fields since before county code was established. He said special events as defined in county code are broad enough to encompass numerous events that occur at the venue.

Paradee said the specific events taking place at Hudson Fields were not the central issue as long as there have been events and no movement to stop events at the venue. “As long as there has been at least one event every two years, it could be any kind of special event. It's spelled out in your code,” he told the board.

In addition, the ruling also recognizes the Hudson airport as a legal nonconforming use that was established before county code was enacted.

Hudson Fields is home to Atlantic Lacrosse, which as a sports activity is a permitted use in AR-1 zoning.

Board member Brent Workman said Hudson Fields should have been grandfathered. “They are still doing the same thing, and it’s never been out of character,” he said. “There have been continuous functions and events there. They’ve proved it, and I’m fine with it.”

“This is great that we still have this in Sussex County,” said board member Ellen Magee. “It could be houses or a shopping center. No one else has stepped up to provide a service like this to the public.”

Christian Hudson, president of Hudson Management, said the decision was the only viable path left open.

“Over the course of the last year-and-a-half it became very evident to everyone that despite their public commentary, the county council was really bent on enacting a highly punitive special events ordinance designed to punish the concert series at Hudson Fields,” he said.

“Together we realized the political process had failed, and the only recourse we had left was through the judicial process. Since the grandfathering provision in the code is a fact-based path, it eliminates most of the back-room political pressure, while capitalizing on the strengths of our historical arguments,” Hudson said.

Hudson said for nearly two years it has been tough on his family with the threat of a shutdown being pushed by a few county council members.

“All the uncertainty and immense political pressure really forced a lot of small charitable events to be put on hold this year,” he said. “I really hope we have enough time to salvage what’s left of this short season and still pull them off this summer. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to pull things like Foodie Fest out of this hole in a short amount of time, but I think we’ll manage to get at least one of them off the ground this year again.”

Highway One Companies has scheduled two concerts at Hudson Fields this summer – Jake Owen, Wednesday, July 18, and Old Dominion, Thursday, Aug. 23.

 

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