Hopefully Lewes Mayor and City Council will make the right decision and continue to make Lewes the bike-friendly and walkable town we all love.
After all the public hearings concerning the Henlopen Bluff preliminary subdivision plan and the conditions placed on that project by the Lewes Planning Commission, it is clear that Condition 10, requiring a vehicular connection into Showfield, should be removed.
Both the developer and the Showfield community support a bike/pedestrian connection.
After serving 30 years on the P&Z commission for Middletown, I have found the best decisions are the result of a compromise.
The bike/pedestrian connection is a compromise.
The good intentions of the Lewes Planning Commission failed to realize the proposed future connection noted on the county site plan was never dedicated, as per the county records, therefore the jurisdiction and control of the connection on the county side of the property line lies with Showfield homeowners association.
Vehicular connectivity should have benefits to both communities, but there is no benefit to Showfield, only increased cut-through traffic, increased safety concerns and increased maintenance costs.
The Showfield attorney has spoken several times stating our legal position opposing the vehicular connection.
If the stub road is mandated by mayor and city council, then the Showfield HOA will not allow the bike/pedestrian connection to a stub road, and the developer has not agreed to pay for such a connection, and why should they?
So if the goal of the planning commission and mayor and city council is to allow for some form of interconnectivity, then the solution is a compromise by allowing for the bike/pedestrian pathway to connect Showfield and Henlopen Bluff. This decision will be in keeping with the town's outstanding reputation as a bike-friendly and walkable place to live.
We sure don’t need a road to nowhere!
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