Vote looms on controversial fitness center in Lewes

Sussex County Council is set to vote on a controversial conditional-use application that would pave the way for a new fitness and therapy center near Lewes city limits.

Neighbors who oppose the project – calling it a mega gym – say approval of the application would set a precedent for future land-use decisions.

Developer Quail Valley LLC is seeking a conditional use for a 56,600-square-foot fitness and therapy center on a six-acre parcel at 1523 Savannah Road, outside Lewes. The property is zoned AR-1, agricultural-residential, where commercial projects require a conditional use to proceed.

At the insistence of Councilman I.G. Burton, R-Lewes, the application is on the Tuesday, Aug. 8 agenda.

Rich Garrett, owner of Midway Fitness and Racquetball, wants to relocate and enlarge his business and rename it Gateway Motion and Fitness to provide space for members with disabilities. If approved, Midway Fitness – located in Midway Shopping Center – would be closed.

Glenn Mandalas, Garrett's attorney, said the proposed use is appropriate under law as long as the requirements are met. He said since 1980 the county has approved 27 conditional-use applications – mostly for professional offices – along Savannah Road from Lewes city limits to Old Orchard Road.

The application – recommended for approval by the county's planning and zoning commission – has been scaled back from the original plan. The square footage has been reduced by about 10,000 square feet, the height reduced from 40 feet to 32.5 feet and the number of parking spaces has been reduced by nearly 100 to 200 total spaces. In addition, a larger buffer with vegetation and fencing between residential areas has been added to the plan.

Features included in the plan are a gym, four racquetball courts, pool, boxing area, massage therapy room, wellness center and the Cape Center for Movement and Disabilities.

Area residents turned out at a pair of public hearings opposing the size and scope of the proposed project. They have placed “No Mega Gym” signs along Savannah Road near the six-acre site.

Most said the facility is out of scale with other buildings in and around their neighborhoods. Other concerns were the project's proximity to houses, increased traffic along Savannah Road and the hours the facility would be open.

Residents submitted detailed information on other commercial buildings in the Savannah Road corridor to show that the proposed facility is more than twice as large as any other office/professional building.

Michael Elrod, who operates his chiropractor office adjacent to the proposed site, said 40 of his neighbors have actively opposed the application.

“We don't think there is any justification for approving this commercial business to be built in the middle of our existing neighborhood, which consists of single-family homes,” he said, adding the land is not zoned commercial. “Approval of this application sets an extraordinarily dangerous precedent for uncontrolled, unplanned growth for Sussex County in general and Lewes in particular.”

The applicant contends changes made in the plan answer concerns raised by planning and zoning commissioners. “The revisions go a long way to conforming with planning and zoning recommendations. The plan is now dramatically better,” Mandalas said.

Commercial buildings in the area (either by zoning or conditional use):

Proposed Gateway Motion and Fitness – 56,600 square feet

Villages of Five Points shopping center – 72,000 square feet

Bayview Medical Center (three buildings) – 26,200 square feet

County Bank – 28,000 square feet

Walgreens – 27,000 square feet

Dollar General – 10,000 square feet

* Source: Sussex County Planning and Zoning

Blessing application also on Aug. 8 agenda

Also on the Aug. 8 agenda is a possible vote on another conditional-use application. Bruce Blessing is seeking a conditional use to operate his business on a 31-acre agricultural-residential, AR-1, zoned parcel at 9372 Draper Road, near Milford, for composting, mixing, blending and bagging, including poultry by-products, and trucking and wholesale distribution.