Buffer issue still not resolved at Lewes Crossing

Who knew trees could cause so much upheaval. A revised landscape plan for Lewes Crossing Phase 8 with the removal of 162 trees from the perimeter buffer has riled residents affected by the revision and pitted them against the homeowners association.

Members of the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission heard comments on both sides of the issue during its July 22 meeting.

“There was a lot of confusion at the [May 13] hearing about the intent of the revision,” said Jim Erickson of Solutions IPEM, the developer's engineer.

He said existing trees would be saved and some areas need to be filled in with new trees. “But there is a stormwater pipe and swale there, and at some point you run out of room,” he said. “We would have to rip out a lot of trees to comply with the original plan.”

Many of those trees are mature ones along the property line with the neighboring Henlopen Landing community. The original plan included a 20-foot vegetated buffer around the perimeter of Lewes Landing.

To meet buffer regulations, 310 trees are required with 267 trees proposed on the plan. The revision would add 43 more trees. Erickson told the commission, the revised plan includes the planting of as many trees as possible in several gap areas.

The new plan outlines areas where trees can be planted and not impact stormwater flow between lots 215 and 227 in the community. No plantings are included behind lots 127, 225, 217, 216 and 218. Partial plantings are shown on the plan behind lots 223 and 218.

Erickson said the developer has planted 136 new trees in the community's open space, which are not included on the buffer landscape plan, for a total of 403 trees.

He said the existing plan was drawn assuming there were no trees on the site.

He exhibited aerial photos showing no trees in 2007 and the starting of a buffer to trees in 2010 in Henlopen Landing. “Some of those trees are on the property line, some are on the Lewes Crossing side and some are on the Henlopen Landing side,” Erickson said.

Bobby Horsey, of David G. Horsey & Sons, whose company did site construction on the property, said some of the blueprints did not match actual conditions. “We tried to save as many existing trees as possible. We moved the swale two more feet off the lots to kept the existing vegetation knowing there would be in fill in the future,” he said. “We had to make field adjustments and not impact Henlopen Landing people.”

Sussex P&Z wants more information

After hearing the explanation for the requested change, Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to leave the record open to obtain more information on the revised plan. “We want a more detailed plan,” said Commissioner Kim Hoey Stevenson. “We want to know what it looks like now and what it will look like with the revised plan.”

Commissioner Holly Wingate asked who would take of the trees, including those overhanging the property line from the Henlopen Landing buffer. “I can see another battle coming over who maintains the trees,” she said.

The request will be placed on a future agenda.

HOA approves revised plan

Erickson said for any action to occur, the homeowners association had to back it.

Dan Donoghue, HOA treasurer, said 61 percent of homeowners voted in favor of the revised landscaping plan. He said it was a tough sell because the new plan was not what homeowners were presented when they purchased their lots. “The developer offered some financial compensation and that played a big part in the decision,” he said.

He said the 162 trees would need to be planted in a swale, which the Sussex Conversation District would not allow. In addition, he said, new plantings would be detrimental to mature existing trees planted in the buffer of the adjacent Henlopen Landing subdivision.

“The original plan was flawed in my opinion,” he said. “The revised plan makes sense.”

Residents question HOA vote

Ann Abel, who said she was one of 13 homeowners negatively affected by the revised plan, said the financial contribution to the HOA was $24,000. She said the way the vote was presented most homeowners didn't think they had a choice. “Seven of the 13 voted yes, but they were not aware no trees would be placed along their backyards,” she said.

Nancy Adler, who lives in lot 220, said the virtual meeting vote was to accept the $24,000 or get nothing. She said there was no option presented to work out a compromise and use the $24,000 to compensate the affected homeowners.

Carol Morris, lot 216, said homeowners are asking for a reasonable compromise. “We paid $5.8 million for 13 homes and we expect to get what we paid for,” she said, adding she has 20 feet of weeds along her property line.

Morris said the buffer plan was changed in January to remove trees and residents were informed about it in April. She said they were then given two week's notice that an HOA meeting was scheduled.

Donna Adair, lot 217, said she was among the first residents to move into the community in November 2019. She said if she was made aware of the buffer issue, she would have purchased a lot in another development.