Sussex council backs P&Z motion on Osprey Point

Developer Osprey Point Preserve LLC had filed a rezoning application for a 1.8-acre commercial parcel along Arnell Creek in the Osprey Point cluster subdivision for a 25-slip marina and a 3,259-square-foot restaurant.

The plans have hit a roadblock following action by Sussex County Council during its Nov. 4 meeting.

Council voted 4-1 on a motion to deny the restaurant and change the marina from a public use to private use for residents only. It was the same motion passed June 22 by the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission with a 4-1 vote.

Councilman Mark Schaeffer, who said the entire application should be denied, noted that commercial uses should not be allowed because nothing was shown to residents on the final site plan. “This is a significant change to the residents that the property owners could not have anticipated,” he said.

Council members Cindy Green, Doug Hudson, President Mike Vincent and John Rieley voted to support the commission’s recommendation.

Before the vote, Schaeffer offered an amendment to restrict the marina to nonmotorized craft only. The motion was defeated 3-2, with only Schaeffer and Green voting in favor.

Rieley said there should be some kind of food service offered. “It could be limited with no outdoor entertainment, but there has been food there for decades,” he said. “But the commission got everything else right.”

Osprey Point plan

The original site plan for the project, approved in November 2016, included 217 single-family home lots on 127 acres, but not a restaurant or marina. The community, the site of the former Old Landing Golf Course, is under construction.

The commission proffered several conditions on the private-use marina.

No refueling, pump out or repairs are permitted. Final plans for the marina must be approved by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and a revised final site plan must be reviewed and approved by the commission.

The marina plan includes a launching area for motorized watercraft, including pontoon and small runaround boats less than 24 feet with shallow drafts, which is the type of boat used by most boaters on the tributaries of Rehoboth Bay.

The plan includes two sections of docks, and a floating dock to be used for a kayak and paddleboard launch.

Buffers of 50 feet along tidal wetlands and 25 feet along nontidal wetlands are planned.

The applicant can appeal council's decision to Chancery Court.