Joe Jelks May 13, 2021
Thanks for the informative article on the progress of the townhouse development along New Road called the Lewes Waterfront Preserve.
Several things about this article did not seem to represent the reality of the situation that exists along Canary Creek and New Road as presented by the developer.
Although this tract of land is mostly not in the flood plain as represented by the FEMA flood maps, and the developer claims to not be erecting townhouses within the flood plain, a good portion of this tract of land was covered by water during the 1993 nor’easter named “the perfect storm.” This storm pushed and held water into the Delaware Bay, which flooded most of the surrounding wetlands and buffer zones.
Lewes Waterfront Preserve received a positive recommendation for final approval from the Lewes Planning Commission at its April 23 meeting, but commissioners weren’t exactly enthusiastic about it.
“Personally, I don’t like 89 townhouses. I don’t think that’s what we should be putting in there, but that’s what’s allowed under the AX-RES zoning,” said Chairman Drew McKay. “I think we have to vote on what we have before us within the parameters of the code and regulations that apply to this particular project.”
Setting Properties Inc. submitted an application for the 34-acre New Road property in fall 2019 under then-recently adopted annexation zoning, which offered developers the opportunity to build projects with less-stringent regulations than all other residential zones in the city. The zoning was created to entice developers to annex and build in the city instead of going to Sussex County for approval.