Sussex council approves Nature Conservancy office project
A $100,000 project to renovate a vacant house near Milton for use as a field office by The Nature Conservancy received final approval June 24 by Sussex County Council.
During a public hearing that preceded the vote, Jon Horner spoke on behalf of The Nature Conservancy, outlining the project. He is an attorney for Schell Brothers and Ocean Atlantic Companies.
Horner has said the companies he represents are helping with the design and will contribute the $100,000 expected to cover the cost of the work.
He estimated that work will begin in about six months, after the final design is completed and a building permit is received.
Council voted 4-0 to grant a conditional use for the project on a 3.8-acre site located at 27167 Round Pole Bridge Road, within the Edward H. McCabe Nature Preserve, east of Milton. Councilman John Rieley was absent.
“The plan is to update the existing single-family dwelling on the property to convert it into an office,” Horner said. “The Nature Conservancy has two staff locally located in Sussex County that have no home base. They hope to establish this as a home base so they have a more consistent presence in the area.”
The site on the Broadkill River is on the north side of the road, about 4,000 feet north of Cave Neck Road. It accesses more than three miles of walking trails in the preserve.
Natasha Whetzel, Delaware stewardship program manager for the conservancy, said the site is one of five nature preserves The Nature Conservancy owns in Sussex County. Two are open to the public, including the McCabe Nature Preserve.
The conservation nonprofit also functions as a land trust, owning, managing and restoring land in Sussex County and elsewhere.
“We have this old residential house on the property from when this was donated to us back in 1993, and it is deteriorating quite rapidly because it hasn’t been used,” Whetzel said. “So we see a really great opportunity for us to be able to work with Schell and [Ocean] Atlantic to renovate that and create an office space for us downstate, where we have most of our land and we do a lot of our work.”
No one spoke at the public hearing before council voted, but three written comments were received in advance. A couple of people complained about dogs running loose on the property. Whetzel said during the hearing that signs are posted on the property warning that dogs must be kept on leashes and on trails, and staff patrol when they are at the site to ensure compliance.
Some neighbors complained about trespassers on their property from The Nature Conservancy land, and there was a request that gates be locked.
“It’s not super feasible because we’re so low capacity,” she said. “We would run into an issue of locking people in and locking people out.”
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
