Lewes approves Donovan-Smith conditional use
The owner of the Donovan-Smith Manufactured Home Park won the ability to add up to 30 new homes in the community Sept. 8, when Lewes Mayor and City Council unanimously approved its conditional-use application.
“This permits Donovan-Smith to actually start evolving,” said Deputy Mayor Khalil Saliba.”The addition of new homes will add more vitality to the community and add more affordable housing stock for the City of Lewes.”
The conditional-use approval means owners Ken Burnham and Donovan-Smith MHP LLC can place the homes on empty lots, officially known as leased-land areas, in the community. It also allows residents to replace a home damaged by fire or storm, for example.
The community will have a maximum of 129 leased-land areas.
Mayor and council also approved 11 conditions attached by the Lewes Planning Commission.
They separately addressed four of those conditions the owner had concerns about.
They modified and retained conditions requiring the owner to notify potential residents of former septic fields and tank sites, and to obtain all required variances before seeking permits to place homes on sites that do not meet code requirements.
Council removed a condition that would have required the owner to correct stagnant and standing water by grading, planting trees or shrubs, or using other means.
However, they added their own wording to “highly recommend that the property owner look at the current situation with standing water and take all measures to address the issue.”
Council also removed a condition that would have required the owner to consider site testing of soil and water for contaminants or environmental hazards created by historical sewage overflow on the property.
John Paradee, the owner’s attorney, said they can meet all of the conditions.
The city annexed Donovan-Smith in 2022, with a goal of creating more affordable workforce housing.
in 2024, the Lewes Board of Public Works hooked up all Donovan-Smith residences to city water and sewer service, and repaved the streets.
Some residents have said poor conditions persist, ranging from standing water to piles of debris and a deteriorating electrical system.
No residents participated in the Sept. 8 meeting.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
