Sussex County Council delayed a decision Sept. 9 on a request to rezone a lot on Kings Highway along the south and west sides of a strip mall as part of a plan to build new stores to make way for a state project to widen the road.

The Oscar H. Jr. and Thelma M. Warrington Trust has asked to change the zoning for the 1.5-acre, L-shaped lot near Lewes that abuts the building that includes Mr. P’s Pizzeria, Hing Wang Chinese Restaurant, Pure Bliss Salon and Spa, and PedalTec Electric Bikes.

The request to change zoning from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to C-2, medium commercial, for the land west of Kings Highway will help clear the way to construct new buildings behind the current ones.

The stores will remain open during construction of the new building, said David Hutt, attorney for the developer.

Council delayed action after a Sept. 9 public hearing during which no members of the public spoke, and is expected to consider the zoning change request at its Tuesday, Sept. 16 meeting. 

The current stores are south of the Brush Factory and across Kings Highway from First Baptist Church of Lewes and Big Oyster Brewery. The Lodge at Historic Lewes is to the south of the site.

West of the project site is the location of a townhome community approved in April called Overfall Preserve. It will be connected to Kings Highway by a planned pedestrian and bicycle path along the south side of the property for which a zoning change is sought, Hutt said.

Kings Highway is a busy road with many commercial, institutional and residential uses along it. An access to Cape Henlopen High School is nearby.

The project is being submitted in anticipation of a state project to widen Kings Highway, which will take land along the road and through much of the commercial building there.

“The solution that [we] came up with to try to address that problem was to simply move the commercial back,” Hutt said at a July 23 Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. “So all those businesses can stay essentially right on the property or in the area where they are located but move them behind the building where they are currently situated.”

The developer, who has a contract to buy the property adjacent to the existing stores, is considering including residences in the new structure, which pleased some council members.

The entire area about the site is designated Level 1, where the state supports and encourages development, Hutt said at the P&Z and council public hearings.

Kings Highway project

The Delaware Department of Transportation has plans to widen Kings Highway from Dartmouth Drive to the split with Freeman Highway at the lighthouse replica in Lewes. The corridor, one of three entrance roads into Lewes, also provides access to Beebe Healthcare, Cape May-Lewes Ferry and Cape Henlopen State Park.

At a 2022 workshop, DelDOT officials unveiled the plans for the project, which include roundabouts at the Dartmouth Drive, Clay Road, Gills Neck Road and Freeman Highway intersections, and another at the entrance to the Lodge at Historic Lewes, a 175-unit senior-living facility. The roadway would also include two lanes in each direction. 

DelDOT officials were unavailable before press time to provide a status update on the project.