Commission: What, no sidewalks?

The construction of sidewalks in new subdivisions can be a thorny issue in Sussex County.

There are no specific regulations, so it's left up to Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission's discretion. For the most part – especially in cluster subdivisions – sidewalks have been required in newer projects.

However, every once in awhile the issue resurfaces.

During the commission's Jan. 22 meeting developer Preston Dyer – on behalf of 34 homeowners in the Holland Mills subdivision – petitioned the commission to reconsider a requirement that 3,500 linear feet of sidewalks be constructed on one side of each of the community's streets. The site plan with 121 lots was approved in 2007.

Commissioner Mike Johnson, who has been the most outspoken advocate for sidewalks, asked why sidewalks have not been built in the community with almost 80 homes completed or under construction. He said sidewalks in the development along Walker Road near Milton are shown on the final site plan that was approved by the county.

“What happened?” he asked. “How did it happen there are no sidewalks?”

Dyer said it was the responsibility of the builder to construct the sidewalks, not the developer.

Commissioners disagreed. Johnson said sidewalks may have been presented to potential buyers as an amenity and also provide safety for pedestrians in the community. “Ultimately, the sidewalks are the developer's responsibility,” he said. “And ultimately this is a violation of the county subdivision approval process.”

Sidewalks on the site plan were within homeowners' lot lines, which is not unusual for a development using a concrete swale system along the streets for stormwater management, said Lawrence Lank, director of county planning and zoning. The sidewalks are not in the right of way.

Dyer said an interior walking path has been constructed and will be expanded as further development of the community continues.

Now that homes were built without sidewalks, homeowners say construction would affect landscaping and underground irrigation. “The homeowners' preference would be to go with the path,” Dyer said.

Commission President Bob Wheatley called the issue a quagmire. He said it's important that the commission assures that people who purchased lots and homes in the community received what they bargained for. “I'm also concerned that we are not forcing something on them they don't want,” he said.

The commission voted to defer on a vote on the request to allow time to review audio and records from the public hearing, make a site visit and allow the developer to submit a drawing of the walking path and any other changes made to the site plan.

Wheatley said Sussex County should adopt a sidewalk ordinance. “We need to make it clear and come up with rules about this; we are going to have more of this. We need to ask county council to do some ordinance work on it,” he said.