Love Creek subdivision goes to state planners
Story Location:
Mulberry Knoll Road
Lewes, DE
United States
Land along Love Creek, once considered for an RV campground, is now slated to become a 225-unit subdivision.
Jack Lingo Asset Management has submitted plans to state planners for The Grove at Love Creek on a 190-acre parcel near Lewes along Cedar Grove, Ward and Mulberry Knoll roads, sharing a border with Love Creek.
The land, owned by J.G. Townsend Jr. and Co., is zoned AR-1, agricultural-residential, and GR, general residential. About 40 acres of the parcel is farmed while approximately 148 acres is wooded.
The parcel contains 24 acres of wetlands that will be protected by 100-foot buffers, according to the developer's application to the state. The developer estimates the weekday traffic count at 2,550 trips, with a trip counting as an entrance and exit.
On the application, the developer noted the parcel would be available for a site evaluation by the State Historical Preservation Office to determine possible historical or cultural resources.
Comments are pending from state agencies through the Delaware State Planning Coordination Office's Preliminary Land Use Service process.
Before applying to Sussex County for rezonings or subdivisions, projects must be reviewed by state agencies. Nick Hammonds, principal for Jack Lingo Asset Management, said a public hearing before the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission is several months away.
The developer is not requesting a rezoning for the parcel. Subdivision applications are heard only by the county's planning and zoning commissioners and not county council.
A section of the parcel was originally proposed as a campground, but rezoning was denied by county officials. With a 3-2 vote in December 2014, Sussex County Council denied a rezoning from GR to AR-1 that would have paved the way for the proposed 600-site Love Creek RV Resort and Campground.
Four other area projects are in the PLUS process:
• MDI Investment Group LLC of Lewisville, Pa., is seeking a rezoning from AR-1 to MR, medium-density residential, for a 7-acre parcel off Shady Road near the Plantation Road intersection near Lewes to build 52 townhomes.
• Developer Insight Homes of Bridgeville has plans to build 263 units on a 132-acre parcel along Beaver Dam Road north of Stockley Road near Lewes. The AR-1 parcel is owned by the Hilda Norwood Trust.
• Oak Landing, on Route 5 east of Route 24, would be a 163-unit subdivision on 60 acres zoned GR between Lewes and Long Neck. The owner and developer is Gary Bolis Jr. of Berwyn, Pa.
• Developer Key Properties Group LLC of Milford has plans for Lewes Shores Estates, a 60-unit subdivision on 81 acres of AR-1 land along Hudson Road near the Eagles Crest Intersection near Milton.
