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Following a number of design changes, public presentations, and rejections by area residents and City of Lewes elected officials, developers of the proposed Canary Creek community appear close to having a plan many can live with.
“We think this is a proposal that makes sense,” said Glenn Mandalas, an attorney representing Canary Creek developer Lifetime Living LLC.
Mandalas, joined by Mark Chura, Lifetime Living advisor, and Zach Crouch, Bowen, Davis & Friedel Inc. engineer, appeared before the Lewes Mayor and Council at a Wednesday, Oct. 8 public hearing, on a zone change request for the Canary Creek project.
Mayor Jim Ford reminded roughly 45 area residents who attended the hearing that immediate action would not be taken on Lifetime Living’s request for a change of zone to pave the way for a 102-unit community.
The developer is seeking a change of zone from community facilities district (CFD) to an outer ring residential district for 53 acres of the 75-acre parcel, which is on the northwest side of New Road.
The request also seeks an old town development district overlay (OTDD), or an open space community development district overlay (OSCDD) for the site.
Although the purpose of the hearing was to obtain public input on the zone change request, much of the discussion was about the community’s design, potential flooding problems for a development in the low-lying area, and rumors that the community is just the first part of a larger development to come.
Plan development
Chura said discussions to revise Canary Creek plans started more than a year ago in an effort to find out what the community would like to see in the area.
He said a residential community with baseball and soccer fields were among ideas discussed, but preservation of open space was clearly the priority.
Chura said the proposed plan includes donation of about 23 acres of wetlands to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and donation of about 22 acres to the City of Lewes, which could be deed-restricted as open space.
He said plans have gone through the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service review, and the Canary Creek site is in a state-approved growth area.
Chura said Lifetime Living is not interested in creating access between its community and the adjacent Point Farm property owned by J.G. Townsend Jr. & Company. He said access to the Townsend property would be prohibited by deed restriction.
Chura said that only 1.7 acres of trees would be removed from the site to accommodate the development, and Lifetime Living is would reseed adjacent city-controlled property resulting in no net loss of woodlands.
He said although Canary Creek homes have not yet been priced, they would not be what are typically described as an affordable home. “This would be entry-level housing, which is different in Lewes than in western Sussex County,” Chura said.
He said in response to community input, the plan places attached townhomes in the center of the development and single-family homes mostly around the site’s southern edge.
Mayor Jim Ford said Canary Creek subdivision plan details are the purview of the Lewes Planning Commission.
The commission would begin plan review if the mayor and council approve the zone change request, amend the city’s comprehensive plan, zoning code and zoning map.
Lifetime Living is required to submit a major subdivision application for the commission’s consideration. Citizens voiced concerns about the rezoning and proposed development but none said they opposed the project.
Joe Jelks, who lives outside Lewes city limits on Creekside Drive near the Canary Creek site, said he had opposed earlier plans because much of the development would have been within the 100-year floodplain. He said the last serious flood to hit the area was following a 1933 storm that inundated the site.
“I’m in full support of the plan but I’d like to recommend careful watch of the wetlands border and floodplain,” Jelks said.
Lewes resident Maryanne Ennis said she remains concerned about preservation of the site’s significant archeological nature. She said a 1999 study found 10 areas containing Native American deposits that are 4,000 years old, and evidence of Dutch colonization that are about 400 years old.
Ford said the public hearing record would remain open for written comment until 4 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15. The mayor and council’s vote on the zone change request could come at the panel’s November meeting.
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