L.T. Associates in December withdrew plans for a 521,000-square-foot shopping complex along Kings Highway near Lewes. On July 2, plans for a scaled down 320,000-square-foot center were submitted to Sussex County planning and zoning.

Their request for a zoning change from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to CR-1, commercial-residential, excludes more than 20 acres of the original 68-acre parcel. The rezoning would affect 46 acres; the remaining 22 acres would remain AR-1.

The rezoning application is expected to be introduced Tuesday, July 21, by county council. Lawrence Lank, director of county planning and zoning, said the application could surface in September on the planning and zoning commission agenda.

When council allowed L.T. Associates to withdraw the application, it also granted an expedited hearing for a resubmitted application; otherwise the plans would not be heard for 18 to 20 months.

The scaled-down version is smaller than the 387,000- square-foot proposed site plan presented for review in April by state planners at a Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS) review.

Frank Kea, planner and landscape architect for the project with Frank M. Kea Communities LLC, said the developers have replaced their original plan for a destination-power center with a smaller, traditional shopping center complex with a grocery store, department store, specialty retailers and office space. The preliminary site plan contains 18 retail/office spaces ranging in size from 6,000 to 20,000 square feet with two anchor locations of 70,000 and 135,000 square feet.

“The developers have paid a lot of attention to what people were saying,” Kea said.

The original proposal attracted widespread opposition, including objections from the City of Lewes. Planning and zoning commissioners recommended denial of the rezoning request, but before county council could act, the developers withdrew the request.

Kea said tenants are interested in the center, but he would not divulge their names. He said if rezoning is approved, it would take at least a year to get the proper permits. He said construction could begin in early 2011. Kea said at build out, the center would provide about 700 jobs, $18 million in annual payroll and $1.6 million in annual taxes. In addition, during construction, about the same amount, $1.6 million, would be paid to the county in fees and permits. About 360 jobs would be provided during construction.

Answering residents’ concerns

Kea said L.T. Associates is working to dispel concerns surrounding the proposed project. Two major concerns center around the effect on existing businesses and the increase in traffic.

“And we have done a market analysis, there is a market for it [The Village Centre],” Kea said.

Kea said the new shopping complex would actually help the downtown Lewes business area.

“This actually works in reverse,” he said. “The center will anchor commercial all around it and it will bring more commercial to the area.”

He said 100 parking spaces have been allotted within the complex for a shuttle service to downtown Lewes.

On the subject of traffic, Kea said Kings Highway is a major arterial road intended to carry heavy traffic.

According to the traffic impact study in the state’s review of the plan, traffic generated by the shopping center at build out would be about 17,000 vehicles per day. That number was based on the original plan of a complex at 521,000 square feet, so the actual number would be less based on the reduction in square footage of the revised plan.

Kea said a number of road improvements are planned for the area of Kings Highway and Gills Neck Road. Those improvements include a new signal at the Clay Road intersection, a signal or roundabout at the Dartmouth Drive intersection and various turning and pedestrian-bicycle lanes. He said the developers are prepared to dedicate rights of way for future road improvements.

“Traffic conditions will be better, not worse,” Kea said.

A connector road from the main entrance of the center at the Clay Road intersection through the development to Gills Neck Road is also planned. The road would have a roundabout behind the commercial center as a link to the Governors housing project, Kea said.

He said the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) also has long-range road improvement projects for the area, including widening of Kings Highway and improvements to Clay Road and the Wescoats Road intersection.

A consultant hired by the developer, Orth-Rodgers & Associates, testified at the Jan. 29, 2008 county council public hearing that traffic on Saturdays in 2014 would increase with or without the L.T. Associates projects planned for the area. The consultant, Robert Rodgers, said traffic in five years with the commercial center and Governors and Senators housing projects would increase from 2,600 vehicles per hour to 3,153 vehicles per hour on Kings Highway and from 900 vehicles to 1,250 vehicles per hour on Gills Neck Road.

When the consultant did the traffic counts, on Saturdays, about 1,450 vehicles per hour traveled on Kings Highway and about 122 vehicles per hour traveled on Gills Neck Road.

Rodgers said with no major road improvements, as planned by the developer in conjunction with DelDOT, all intersections in the area are in danger of rating an “F,” which means vehicles would wait more than 80 seconds at traffic signals.

Rodgers said DelDOT has required 14 separate road improvements.

During testimony at public hearings, many Lewes-area residents opposed the scope of the original project. Some of the most outspoken opponents suggested the developers look at a scaled down commercial-residential mixed use similar to Villages of Five Points or Vineyards at Nassau Valley.

Kea, who called that approach the new urbanism, is not a proponent of mixed use in this area.

“It does not work,” he said. “It’s still considered experimental, and you can’t get financing for those projects today.”

Others were not in favor of rezoning the parcel - including Lewes officials.

In a letter dated April 27 to the Office of State Planning Coordination, Lewes Mayor Jim Ford outlined the city’s position of the proposed rezoning and project.

“A 387,000 [now 320,000] square foot commercial space is too large for this area and would dramatically alter the character of the surrounding neighborhood. The current zoning is AR-1 and it is our position that it should not be changed,” he wrote. “The city is concerned that upzoning will negatively impact the character of the area, the wellhead protection area and will create safety issues on the surrounding roads.”

The Village Centre timeline

• Original rezoning request surfaces in January 2008; withdrawn in December 2008

• Jan. 10, 2008: Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission hears L.T. Associates’ rezoning request and proposal for a 521,000-square-foot commercial center for 68 acres off Kings Highway near Lewes. The public hearing lasts more than five hours; no decision is made.

• Jan. 24, 2008: A required traffic impact study is circulated to county officials.

• Jan. 29, 2008: Without a recommendation from planning and zoning, Sussex County Council holds a public hearing on the L.T. Associates rezoning request. The hearing also extends more than five hours.

• March 27, 2008: With a 5-0 vote, planning and zoning commissioners recommend denial of the L.T. Associates rezoning request based on the size and scope of the proposed commercial project for the parcel.

• Dec. 16, 2008: On the final meeting of the year, and after eight months without a county council decision, the developers withdraw their application with the promise of an expedited review should a resubmission be made.

• April 22, 2009: State Office of Planning Coordination conducts a second Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS) review of the rezoning and proposed project.

• May 18, 2009: State agencies submit comments related to the PLUS report.

• July 2, 2009: L.T. Associates refiles its application with Sussex County for rezoning and a downscaled 320,000-square-foot commercial center.

• September 2009: With an expedited review, the rezoning request should be scheduled for a September planning and zoning meeting to be followed by a county council hearing.•

• November or December 2009: Decisions could be made by county officials on the rezoning request.•

• December 2010: Permitting process could be complete. If approved, developers say it would take a year to get county and state permits before construction could start.•

• October 2011: First phase of complex could be open.•

*Timeframe estimates if approved