Improvements proposed for Boat Hole Marina area

Improvements are planned at the Boat Hole Marina area near the Love Creek bridge along Route 24. Right now, the only proposed plans include an upgraded marina, said Bob Stickels, who represents property owner Nichols Management Inc. of Sandy Spring, Md.

But, he said, discussions of a hotel or motel at the site are also under way but are in their infancy.

The site near the Love Creek bridge along Route 24 currently contains a 16-acre marina and store with large greenhouses south of the marina. Work is under way removing about 30 old boat slips from the west banks of Love Creek.

The plans surfaced during a recent meeting of the Love Creek Woods Homeowners' Association, a community adjacent to the Boat Hole parcel. Stickels attended the association's Nov. 10 meeting to discuss a proposed sewer line.

In a phone interview, Jack Simpson, president of the homeowners' association, said the developer is seeking a right-of-way to bury a sewer line under the community's main road to reach the Route 24 parcel. He said one individual property owner who would be affected has already given approval.

He said before any action could be taken by the community, homeowners would have to approve the right-of-way request. He said the board would meet with the developer and with county officials in early 2013 to get more details and that many more meetings would take place before a vote would occur.

Simpson said homeowners are also asking questions about hooking into the county sewer system. “A lot of people would like to hook in, and the county says we could,” he said, adding, however, the proposed system might be too costly.

According to Shane Abbott, assistant director of county planning and zoning, the Boat Hole Marina is zoned M-1, marine; restaurants and hotels are a permitted use in that zoning district. However, he said, before a building permit could be issued for a project, the developer would have to submit site plans to the planning and zoning commission.

Sussex County engineer Mike Izzo said the county had been contacted by the property owner to hook into the county's central sewer system in the Camp Arrowhead Road area.