After extended public comment from nearby residents, the Millsboro Town Council narrowly approves a preliminary site plan for a large subdivision.
Developers of the White’s Farm subdivision propose a 214-home subdivision. Jamie Sechler, an engineer attached to the project, told council members that the project was going above and beyond town requirements in some areas.
“Required parking is 642 [spaces], and we're providing 648,” he said. “Open space requirement is 15%, and we're proposing 23%, and the max density is 5.81 units per acre, and our proposal is 3.1 units per acre.”
This is the preliminary site plan’s second time in front of the Town Council. A vote last month stalled out after council members raised concerns about a nearby historic schoolhouse.
Questions about the historic Godwin School surfaced again on Tuesday, especially from Barbara Mitchell of the Millsboro Historical Society, which has a 99-year lease on the Godwin School site.
“What happens to the historical part of it if you make it a traffic area,” she asked. “Because that's what you're doing with 214 houses there.”
Attorney John Paradee assured Mitchell that the school property would not be affected.
“Nothing about this project is going to change anything about the Godwin School property,” he said. “The access that they have and the parking that they have currently will not be disturbed as part of this project.”
Adding to the concerns about the historic school were complaints from residents of the nearby Cedar Ridge development about changes to the road and its intersection with their neighborhood. But, Paradee said that was out of the developer’s hands.
“We can't really control that,” he contended. “DelDOT's going to dictate how that intersection is constructed. And so unfortunately, we respect and appreciate all the concerns, but it's going to be DelDOT that's going to dictate how that intersection looks.”
Council member Kimberly Kaan raised another road-related issue - who was going to be in charge of maintaining the streets within the subdivision?
“The town typically does not accept subdivisions with town-maintained roads,” she said. “In this application before us, the report says that it's going to be town-maintained roads. I know we've discussed this last month. I don't know why that wasn't conveyed.”
Sechler said the developer would agree to having the subdivision’s streets be dedicated to public use but maintained by the subdivision, not the town.
A motion to codify that promise seemed to earn Kaan’s agreement; she seconded that proposal. Still, the motion to approve the preliminary site plan - with the condition about road maintenance - barely passed, with Mayor Bob McKee casting the deciding vote in a 4-3 approval. The project will still face additional votes from the Town Council as planning continues.
