Sussex officials approve Route 1 setback parking
Parking in setback areas reared its ugly head during a site-plan review for a project along the Route 1 corridor. Developer Key Properties/Restaurant Development Rt. 1 seeks to combine two properties into a single 38,000-square-foot parcel and convert an existing house and office building into a restaurant and storage building.
The parcel is located on the north side of Route 1 next to Lazy Susans and across from American Cedar and Millwork near Lewes.
The developer asked the commission for a waiver to allow parking in the restricted front-yard setback along Route 1.
Sussex County officials have struggled for years to preserve road corridors where road expansion may be required in the future.
County code requires front-, rear- and side-yard setbacks, which change according to zoning districts.
Variances can be approved by the board of adjustment, and waivers for parking can be granted during site-plan review by planning and zoning commissioners. Most requests for parking in setback areas are approved.
Before taking a vote during a Dec. 21 meeting, Commissioner Kim Hoey Stevenson asked her fellow commissioners for their thoughts about the waiver.
“How do we inspire the design community to stop doing this, except to say no?” asked Commissioner Bob Wheatley.
Wheatley, who has been on the commission for 22 years, said in the past, officials did not think about road expansion or roads in general. “But we certainly are now,” he said.
“On Route 1, it's tough, and everybody is applying for it. Now it's more of an issue,” said assistant county attorney Vince Robertson.
In this case, parking spaces and buildings are located in the parcel's 60-foot-front setback, said Sussex County Planning and Zoning Director Janelle Cornwell. The developer was granted a variance of 28 feet in the front-yard setback on Nov. 21, 2016, by the board of adjustment.
In the 3-1 vote, Hoey Stevenson voted against the site plan.
Although he voted in favor of the site plan and waiver, Wheatley had a warning for developers that at some point, county officials would not permit waivers for parking in setback areas. “It's coming,” he said.
