|
Sometimes the wheels of county government move slowly. It’s been seven months since the marathon county council public hearing on the three L. T. Associates requests for projects on Gills Neck Road in Lewes. It’s been five months since planning and zoning commissioners ruled on the three requests – against a rezoning for a large commercial project, Townsend Village Centre, and in favor, with restrictions and size limitations, of a conditional-use request for the housing project Governors and a subdivision request for another housing project, Senators.
With the approval of the Senators’ subdivision, the project moves forward because subdivision requests do not have to be approved by county council.
County council faces no deadline for making a decision on the Townsend Village Centre or Governors, but the wait may soon be over. Councilman Lynn Rogers of Milton, who represents the Lewes area, said the two remaining projects would probably surface on the council agenda in late September or early October.
Council President Finley Jones says it’s Rogers who can make the call to put the matter back on the agenda any time he wants.
Rogers said it takes time to review the quantity of information presented by both sides.
“We want to be fair to the applicants and opponents,” Rogers said. “You wouldn’t believe the number of letters and emails I received - it’s in the thousands,” he said. The transcripts from two public hearings on the three requests cover more than 14 hours of testimony. Rogers said in his 12 years on the council, he has never received this much correspondence on an issue. “It’s been unbelievable,” he said.
It’s also been a busy summer for the council, which gave priority to updating the comprehensive land-use plan adopted in late June. Rogers said he has not been pressured by either side to place the matter on the council agenda. “I’ve had a few calls asking questions but no pressure,” he said.
Time is running out for three members of council. Jones, Rogers and Dale Dukes, with more than 40 years of county experience between them, announced recently they are stepping down and will not seek reelection. They will leave office Dec. 31. Jones, who sets the agenda with County Administrator David Baker, said when Rogers gives him the green light, the matter will be placed back on the agenda. He said as a matter of protocol, controversial issues are placed on the agenda only when the councilman in the district where the issue is taking place tells him to proceed. “I don’t see it in the immediate near future, but when Mr. Rogers feels he is ready, the wheels will be put in motion,” Jones said. Still, the matter can’t be postponed forever. “If we don’t get it on sometime soon, people will start to put the squeeze on,” he said.
Dennis Schrader, attorney for L.T. Associates, said his clients are anxious to have the matter resolved. “But the time element is completely within control of the county council,” he said.
Schrader said that in his legal opinion the only real time restraint is that the current council must act on the requests before Rogers, Dukes and Jones step down at the end of the year, because they are the ones who are privy to information discussed during the public hearing.
Baker said county legal staff told him that newly elected council members could vote on pending issues if they listened to the entire public hearing transcripts and read all of the available documentation.
“But I don’t think the current council wants that to happen,” Baker said. “They want to address the current matters.”
Jones said people are asking to delay decisions until after the election and into the new year when three new members of council are sworn in. “I don’t pay much attention to that. I’m still working at this as if I’ll be in office another 100 years,” he said.
The planning and zoning commission recommended denial of rezoning of 68 acres from AR-1 to CR-1 for the 521,000-square-foot Townsend Village Centre shopping center. County council will have final say on the request.
It recommended approval of two other requests for parcels totaling nearly 300 acres for two projects, Governors and Senators, which would be adjacent to the shopping complex and connect with Hawkseye, a 162-unit development already under construction. But the planners recommended the proposed number of lots be scaled back in both developments. The commission recommended preliminary approval for the 119-acre Senators subdivision with 229 lots, 13 lots fewer than the 242 proposed lots. Once the planners approve the final site plan, building permits can be issued.
It also recommended approval for a conditional use of 186 acres for the Governors subdivision, but with 258 units, which is 114 units fewer than the proposed 472 units. The request needs county council approval to proceed.
Three projects pending on Gills Neck Road
• GOVERNORS – Developers asked for 472 units on 186 acres; planners recommended approval of 258 units. Developers want to take part in the county bonus density program and purchase increased density - 90 more units. Planners did not agree with that proposal even though it would have meant nearly $2 million to the county to purchase open space. The request is pending county council action.
• SENATORS – Developers asked for 242 lots on 119 acres; planners approved a 229-lot standard subdivision. The request does not require county council action.
• TOWNSEND VILLAGE CENTRE – Developers asked for a change in zoning from AR-1 to CR-1 to pave the way for a 521,000-square-foot shopping center on Gills Neck Road and Kings Highway. Planners recommended denial of the request to county council. The request is pending county council action.
|
