The developer of the Henlopen Bluff community in Lewes has submitted an application to the state for an 18-slip marina and community kayak launch in the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal that would be along Gills Neck Road, east of the Freeman Highway bridge.

Henlopen Bluff is a 78-lot, single-family home subdivision within Lewes town limits. Edward Launay, a senior professional wetland scientist for Environmental Resource Insights, submitted the application on behalf of developer Showfield LLC to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Wetlands and Waterway Section in November. The Division of Water issued a public notice about the proposed marina March 25. 

The proposed marina will provide recreational water access for the future residents of the Henlopen Bluff community, said Launay. The proposed site is adjacent to navigable waters actively used for recreation, and there are a number of marinas and residential docking facilities to the northwest of the project site, he said.

The marina will be constructed on two different proposed open spaces.

One space will be the boat-docking facility intended to serve nine single-family homes along the road, with each having a single pier that has an open slip on one side and a boat lift on the other. There will be nine parking spaces provided. Each of the nine piers will be 6 feet wide by 32 feet long.

The second open space will be the community marina portion. The kayak launch facility will comprise a 6-foot-wide, 8-foot-long pier extending into the canal to a proposed 8-foot-wide, 35-foot-long dock.

According to the application, the width across the canal at the proposed site is 215 feet. The distance from the project shoreline to the active navigation channel in the canal is about 50 feet, which means the nine proposed 32-foot-long piers are a minimum of 8 feet from the 10-foot buffer bordering the federal navigation channel in the canal. The distance from the end of the kayak launch to the navigational channel’s 10-foot buffer is 39 feet.

The state is accepting comments on the proposed marina until Tuesday, April 14. Submit all written comments or requests for a public hearing by email to Wetlands_LegalNotice@Delaware.gov. For more information, call 302-739-9943.