Milton planners approve site plans for warehouse

Milton Planning and Zoning Commission gave final site-plan approval at its Dec. 21 meeting for a proposed warehouse building on Route 16.

Electrical contractor C&R Electric is planning to build a 5,500-square-foot warehouse on a half-acre vacant lot adjacent to The Backyard restaurant at Route 16 and Bennett Street. The property is zoned C-1 commercial, and the warehouse would be used for office space and to store materials that could be picked up and taken to job sites. The building on the site had housed a bank; it was demolished and the land was purchased by C&R, which is based out of Glen Burnie, Md. 

During its Monday, Jan. 3 meeting at Milton library, Milton Town Council will hear a request for a series of waivers from curb requirements in town code. The waivers, a condition of approval from planning and zoning, relate to the requirement that new construction projects install curbs, gutters or sidewalks where none exist, as well as for the entrance and access to the property. C&R has planned to use the existing access on Bennett Road to get in and out of the property. In a letter to council, engineer Zac Crouch said the site meets current state fire marshal requirements, and the town’s code mainly relates to construction of new streets and/or subdivisions. He said C&R already has approval from state agencies such as Delaware Department of Transportation, and planning and zoning recommends approval of the waivers.

Appeals ordinance to be voted on

In addition to the C&R waiver, town council will vote on an ordinance regulating appeals of decisions from the town’s planning and zoning commission, board of adjustment and project coordinator.

Council has twice tabled the ordinance after significant changes in the wording. The ordinance has been controversial because of the language that would set a fee to be paid by the applicant to have an appeal heard. While that fee would be determined by council when it passes the annual fee schedule, amounts originally proposed would be a $400 application fee and at least $1,000 to be held in escrow to cover administrative costs. 

The fees have faced opposition from citizens who say the cost would discourage appellants with limited incomes from filing appeals, taking away a valuable First Amendment right. 

Town officials say the town paid thousands of dollars to hear two recent appeals of decisions by the planning and zoning commission. One appeal was over a special permitted use for Verizon to build a cellphone tower on Front Street, and the other was for a preliminary site-plan approval for the proposed Cypress Grove development on Route 16. The Verizon decision was upheld by town council in August, while the Cypress Grove appeal was dropped by the applicant. Town officials have said the fee would help discourage frivolous appeals.

The planning and zoning commission inserted two recommendations to be added to the ordinance. First, if an appeal is successful, an applicant would be reimbursed the application fee. Second, an applicant could apply for an economic hardship exception with proof that they could not afford the fees.

The decision is part of a loaded agenda for the council, which includes adoption of a construction manual, a memorandum of understanding between the town and the Delaware State Fire Marshal, and another waiver of curbing installation requested by Milton Attainable Housing LLC to not have curbs along a street adjacent to the proposed Cypress Grove development. 

Council will hear a request from Douglas and Corey Marshall-Steele to vacate a lot line between two nonconforming parcels to create one conforming parcel at 311 and 313 Walnut St. 

New business also includes a request from James Welu for a waiver of legal fees related to a board of adjustment appeal, a recommendation by the streets, sidewalks and parks committee to forward the traffic calming ad hoc committee’s advisory report to DelDOT for review, and an ordinance related to no parking within the 300 block of Coulter Street. Council will hear an advisory report from planning and zoning on transportation improvement districts and a resolution to support a grant application to complete an updated water facilities report.