News Briefs 06/14/19

Cape Gazette posts early classified deadline
The Cape Gazette offices will be closed Friday, June 21, so employees can attend an all-day seminar. The deadline for classified advertising for the Tuesday, June 25 edition will be noon, Thursday, June 20. All other deadlines remain the same as usual.

Milton streets committee to meet June 18
Milton Streets, Sidewalks and Parks Committee will meet at 1 p.m., Tuesday, June 18, in Milton library, to discuss downtown streetscape and crosswalks. The committee will also nominate and select a committee secretary. This new committee was created by Town Council by combining the Streets and Sidewalks Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee.

Milton to hold June 18 executive session
Milton Town Council will hold an executive session at 3 p.m., Tuesday, June 18, at Milton library. The session is being held to receive legal advice from counsel and discuss strategy.

Milton planners to meet June 18
Milton Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 18, at Milton library to discuss and possibly vote on a preliminary site-plan review for revisions to Phase 6 of Heritage Creek.

Developer Fernmoor Homes has proposed increasing the number of single-family homes in the development from 210 to 262, while reducing the number of townhomes from 160 to 109 and eliminating apartment units and a proposed retail space. Heritage Creek’s large-parcel development plan, approved in 2005 and revised in 2013, allows for a maximum of 425 units on a 127-acre parcel next to Mariner Middle School on Harbeson Road. Fernmoor Homes plans to develop this new phase of construction in nine separate phases. The amended plans would increase the open space from 36 acres to 40 acres.

The proposed changes to Heritage Creek’s master plan were approved in May but Fernmoor Homes needs site-plan approval from planning and zoning before moving forward with construction.

Lewes to discuss Fourth of July road closures June 18
Lewes Mayor and City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 18, at city hall to discuss the planned road closures for the Fourth of July fireworks show. The show is organized by Go Fourth Lewes, a group of citizens and business owners, which has been working with local and state emergency officials to develop a plan for traffic following last year’s gridlock. The group plans to close Savannah Road at the canal drawbridge at 7 p.m. and the Freeman Highway bridge at 8 p.m. The show will begin shortly after 9 p.m. and last about 20 minutes. At the June 10 mayor and city council meeting, Councilman Dennis Reardon said he did not agree with the closures, but refrained from commenting further. For more information, call city hall at 302-645-7777.

Lewes public hearing set June 18
Lewes Mayor and City Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 18, at city hall regarding changes to the annexation zones, specifically as they relate to density calculation, wetlands delineation and requirements for open space, landscaping and buffers. For more information, call city hall at 302-645-7777.

Lewes selling three beach lots
Lewes Mayor and City Council agreed to sell three residential lots off Cape Henlopen Drive. Two lots on Tennessee Avenue near the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal, each about an eighth of an acre, are listed for $425,000 each. The third neighboring lot along Cape Henlopen Drive, a triangular parcel about a third of an acre, is listed for $395,000. The lots are zoned R3, residential beach, and have access to city water and sewer, and natural gas from Chesapeake Utilities. For more information, call City Manager Ann Marie Townshend at 302-645-7777.

Lewes executive session set June 17
Lewes Mayor and City Council will hold an executive session at 1 p.m., Monday, June 17, at city hall. The agenda does not indicate what will be discussed. For more information, call city hall at 302-645-7777.

Sherwood Forest sewer annexation approved
At its June 11 meeting, Sussex County Council approved engineering staff’s recommendation to annex the Sherwood Forest development in Long Neck with 167 parcels into the county’s central sewer system. Customers will pay $925 per year with an estimated plumbing connection cost of $2,000. Service should be available in four to five years.

Budget, rezoning on Sussex council agenda June 18
Sussex County Council will meet at 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 18, in the county administration building, 2 The Circle, Georgetown. Included on the agenda is a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget and a 1:30 p.m. public hearing on conditional-use and rezoning applications for proposed 24 multifamily housing units at 1525 Savannah Road near Lewes. Also, interviews of Kevin Carson and Jeff Chorman as nominees for Sussex County Board of Adjustment seats are scheduled. Board members Dale Callaway and John Mills are retiring at the end of June. See a complete agenda at www.sussexcountyde.gov.

Sussex council awards grants to nonprofits
Sussex County Council awarded the following councilmanic grants during its June 11 meeting: $3,500 to Gumboro Community Association to help revitalize the grounds and landscaping at Gumboro Community Center; $1,000 to Town of Greenwood for Night Out; and $1,000, including a $500 youth grant, to TeenSHARP for Delaware Goes to College Sussex Boot Camp expenses.

20th RD Democratic Committee to meet June 20
The guest speaker at the Thursday, June 20 meeting of the RD 20 Democratic Committee will be Rich Borrasso, one of the founders of the Sussex Alliance for Responsible Growth.  He will discuss SARG’s views on how to address traffic-generating development and congestion problems on roadways, along with environmental issues such as buffers and wetlands. Borrasso retired to Milton after working 42 years with several Fortune 500 companies.  The June 20 meeting will be at Fish On Restaurant, 17300 Village Main Blvd., Lewes, with committee members and guests gathering at 5:30 p.m. for refreshments and dinner (optional) followed at 6 p.m. by Borrasso’s presentation. The RD 20 Democratic Committee welcomes the public.

Following the panel discussion, RD 20 Democratic Committee will conduct its monthly business meeting. Registered Democrats are welcome to attend. RD 20 is the local Democratic Party organization for residents in the Lewes, Milton, Belltown, Coolspring, Jimtown, Pinetown and Harbeson areas of Sussex County. For more information send an email to rd20.deldems@gmail.com.

Dewey board of adjustment hearing set June 18
The Dewey Beach Board of Adjustment will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m., Tuesday, June 18, at the Lifesaving Station, 1 Dagsworthy Ave. Representatives of Snug Harbor Condominium Association have requested a variance to allow two condominium structures, which are nonconforming related to setbacks, be raised to the current base flood elevation. The structures predate the zoning code.