Dewey approves permit for public parking facility
Dewey Beach Town Council recently approved a conditional-use application from Highway One Companies to operate a public parking facility on Dagsworthy Avenue at the location of the former Ivy restaurant.
Per the terms of the application, Highway One will have the right to operate the lot 24 hours a day. According to attorney Steven Spence, who attended the council’s May 16 meeting on Highway One’s behalf, folks will only be able to enter the lot from about 8 a.m. to 1 a.m., but will be able to exit at any time.
“No one’s objecting to extra parking in town,” said Commissioner Paul Bauer.
The facility will operate on a free-to-enter, pay-to-exit basis. There will be on-site trash receptacles, and the facility will be cleaned at least once a day, as established by the application’s terms.
The longtime bayside bar and restaurant Ivy was demolished earlier this year. At the time, the property was planned to be converted to residential. The future of that plan is not known; however, the final site plan shows the property being subdivided into seven lots, each of which will be about 5,000 square feet, except for a bayfront lot, which will be just under 9,100 square feet.
Ellen McIntyre is a reporter covering education and all things Dewey Beach. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Penn State - Schreyer Honors College in May 2024, then completed an internship writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In 2023, she covered the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand as a freelancer for the Associated Press and saw her work published by outlets including The Washington Post and Fox Sports. Her variety of reporting experience covers crime and courts, investigations, politics and the arts. As a Hockessin, Delaware native, Ellen is happy to be back in her home state, though she enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. She also loves live music, reading, hiking and spending time in nature.
