Preliminary site plan approved for Willows at Northstar
The Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission approved a preliminary site plan Dec. 10, for a 94-unit affordable housing project, part of the Northstar development west of Lewes.
The Willows at Northstar plan includes a clubhouse with a lounge, fitness center and management offices on the first floor of Building 4, which also has 22 residences, two bike storage lockers, a playground and play area.
The preliminary site plan was approved 5-0.
The affordable housing is part of a broader project a mile east of Dairy Farm Road, most of which is between Route 9 and Beaver Dam, with a portion south of Beaver Dam Road.
Sussex County Council voted unanimously May 20, to amend the comprehensive zoning map from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to MR, medium-density residential, and granted a conditional use for affordable housing.
The bulk of the Northstar project residences were approved in 2024, and the affordable housing and commercial development applications were passed later.
The planning & zoning commission in October 2024 approved 758 single-family homes on a 420-acre site. That left the workforce housing project on 7.9 acres and a commercial development on 12.7 acres for council to decide.
A third application to change the zoning of a 12.7-acre parcel along Route 9 from AR-1 to C-3, heavy commercial, will be considered at a future council meeting. Plans call for construction of several buildings totaling 96,118 square feet on that site.
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.
