Lewes moves forward on New Road field plan

Lewes Mayor and City Council voted unanimously Nov. 3, to move forward with an application for a Delaware Forestry Service grant for the reforestation of a New Road field.

Before the vote, council added conditions aimed at keeping the 20-acre former farm field as natural as possible for people and as a wildlife habitat.

Those conditions included making the field up to 40% meadow, prohibiting pets on the property, and being respectful of the archeological and Indigenous sites on the property.

Council did not include a condition restricting buildings on the land, which is zoned as open space. City code allows for certain uses and structures in open space. Some uses would require a conditional-use permit.

The city owns the parcel, which is at the corner of New Road and Park Road.

In 2010, the city made an agreement with the developer of the adjacent Canary Creek community to acquire the parcel and keep it as open space in perpetuity.

Mardi Thompson, city tree commissioner, presented an updated proposal that calls for planting trees on 10 acres around the perimeter and a meadow in the center. The exact dimensions of the meadow are to be determined.

The DFS grant would pay for 90% of the project. The city would pay the other 10%, which would amount to an estimated $8,000.

The funds would come from the city’s newly establish resiliency fund.

“It’s a very cost-effective way to plant trees that are going to be resilient themselves,” said Deputy Mayor Khalil Saliba, chair of the city’s economic, environment and resiliency commission.

It was important for council to fast-track its decision, so there will be time to have the application approved and the state to buy and plant trees next spring.

Neighbors from Canary Creek and other nearby communities filled the public hearing to support the plan. They favor keeping the land free of structures and active recreation.

“Thirteen years ago, we fended off soccer fields with lights and trucks and parking, and a lot of things that were not part of the arrangement with the city,” said Doug Spelman, who lives in Canary Creek.

Russell Small, whose grandfather owned and farmed the property for generations, told council there are archeological sites on the property that must be protected.

“It’s a cultural site where Native Americans lived and died. My grandfather excavated a site. The [artifacts] are in the Smithsonian today,” Small said.

David Ennis, one of the negotiators who got the developer to donate the land to the city, said Small’s grandfather found a 3,000- to 4,000-year-old axe head on the property.

The Lewes Parks and Recreation Commission further discussed the proposal at a special meeting Nov. 4. There has been no determination on what role that panel might have in managing the land.

“We have Great Marsh Park right next door – it surrounds it – so does this 20-acre parcel become part of Great Marsh Park?” asked Commissioner Rodney Robinson, who is a landscape architect.

Council has tapped Robinson, Thompson and Barry Dunkin, Great Marsh Park commissioner, to work with the city manager on the grant application and a plan for the property.