Levy Court won’t extend service to proposed development

Delaware State News

DOVER — Kent County Levy Court on Tuesday night dealt what may have been a death blow to a proposed residential development on 342 acres west of the bucolic bayside village of Leipsic.

The latest setback came when the commissioners firmly rejected a proposed public-private partnership to extend county sewer service to the proposed development, called the Landings at Leipsic.

Denying sewer service to the development means Tony Ashburn & Sons must explore other avenues on wastewater disposal if the long-contested project is to proceed.

Levy Court President P. Brooks Banta said he was "appalled" at the application.

Mr. Banta also questioned the priorities of the state officials — including three legislators and the secretary of state — who vehemently opposed the county’s plans for a library last week but who apparently had no concern about an environmentally sensitive issue such as the Landings.

"It absolutely amazes me tonight that there are a handful of people in the audience, and last week there were 175 to 200," he said. "It seems to me that this room should be filled tonight with people decrying this," Mr. Banta said.

"My concern is, what’s more important — the health, welfare and safety of the people we serve, or a library?"

The Kent County Regional Planning Commission voted to table the application during its July 9 meeting, then voted to recommend preliminary approval with numerous conditions on Sept. 10.

Sen. Bruce Ennis, D-Clayton, attended Tuesday’s business meeting to voice his opposition to the application.

"The State Planning Office has continued to oppose this project," Sen. Ennis said.

Fred Allen Bass, who lives on Fast Landing Road, told Levy Court that "everybody knows this project shouldn’t have been approved."

Nancy Goodfellow, head of the Leipsic Planning & Zoning Commission, described Leipsic as "a small town with big issues."

"What amazes me is that you gentlemen have to make decisions like you did tonight," she said.

In other business, Levy Court voted to sign an agreement for a one-time Community Development Block Grant of $209,056.

The grant, which comes through the American Recovery and Rehabilitation Act, will be used for scattered-site housing rehabilitation throughout the county.

Town officials, residents concerned about 130-home, 342-acre proposal

Delaware State News

LEIPSIC — A bitter battle that’s long been brewing between a builder and this bucolic bayside village may be headed for Kent County Levy Court for resolution.

The Kent County Regional Planning Commission will decide at its business meeting Thursday night whether to approve and send to Levy Court an application for a proposed housing development called The Landings west of Leipsic.

Tension between representatives for the builder and residents of the town grew visibly during a prolonged public hearing of the planning commission last Thursday night.

If given the go-ahead, Tony Ashburn and Sons will build more than 130 houses on a 342-acre tract bounded by the Leipsic River and Dyke Branch, and divided by Fast Landing Road (Del. 42) west of incorporated Leipsic. The builder’s legal counsel, John Paradee, urged the seven-member planning commission to send the application to Levy Court for approval.

"The commission’s decision must be based on the preliminary planning stage," said Mr. Paradee. "This application meets all the code requirements for preliminary plan approval."

Much of the opposition to the development stems from its proposed location in the midst of the vast and ecologically sensitive tidal marshlands of the upper Delaware Bay. Concerns include the proposed on-site septic system, road maintenance, pollution and the loss of fertile farmland.

Although the development lies west of incorporated Leipsic, the town’s government has insisted on participating in the process in accordance with the Leipsic Comprehensive Plan.

That plan, adopted in November 2006, institutes a one-mile area of influence or "Intergovernmental Coordination Area," said Nancy Goodfellow, a member of Leipsic Town Council.

Because of concern over the project’s environmental impact and its impact on the health and welfare of town residents, the Leipsic Planning & Zoning Commission voted on June 30 to oppose The Landings.

The commission is chaired by Nancy Goodfellow’s husband, Jay Goodfellow.

"The Leipsic Planning and Zoning Commission has held at least six meetings in the past year, and not once has a representative of Mr. Ashburn been present," Jay Goodfellow wrote in a letter to the county planning commission last week.

At the public hearing on Thursday, Commissioner Paul Davis asked whether the project’s engineers took into account recent studies on global warming and rising water in tributaries.

"The boundary lines on your site plan are going to change drastically with the rise of water," Mr. Davis told Mr. Paradee.

"It’s speculative to think about what global warming might mean to this project," Mr. Paradee responded.

Mr. Paradee reminded the commissioners of the December 2008 ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court that the Kent County Regional Planning Commission doesn’t have authority to deny applications outright.

Charles Hopkins, who lives on Fast Landing Road, was among those who spoke against The Landings at the public hearing.

"This is contrary to where the state and Kent County have been trying to go," he told the commissioners.

William Jacobson, also of Fast Landing Road, called the proposal "the opposite of smart growth," and asked whether the site plan’s 100-foot buffers allow for the rising sea level.

Mr. Jacobson showed slides of the tidal surge that swamped the Leipsic area during the floods of May 2008, and wondered whether Leipsic would join flood-ravaged Kitts Hummock and Bowers Beach, which he called "taxpayer burdens."

Leipsic is "a waterman’s town" with a character the residents want to maintain, Nancy Goodfellow said on Friday. She noted that 40 residents — from a population of about 220 — hold commercial fishing licenses. That would all change if The Landings project is approved.

"The town has no official record of what the developer is planning on doing," she said. "He knows we’re here. He’s just ignoring us."

Mr. Paradee maintained Thursday night that "we stand prepared to meet with the town."

He knows how to get there. He used to be the town solicitor.