By Rachel Sawicki

MIDDLETOWN — The residents of The Estates at Dove Run won over Mayor Kenneth Branner and Town Council on Monday, as they unanimously denied a conditional-use permit for garden apartments near the neighborhood.

The developer, Capano Residential, first appeared before the town’s Planning & Zoning Commission on Nov. 18, 2021. It was there that many residents, whose backyards would be overlooked by the apartments, showed up to voice their opposition.

Following the outcry — and more resistance during its Dec. 16 meeting — the commission did not approve the apartments.

During Monday’s Town Council meeting, however, the proposal was reintroduced. The project would include eight buildings of 24 units each, plus 408 parking spaces. The complex would include a community center and a swimming pool.

Residents have consistently voiced concern over traffic, jobs and privacy, considering that some of the apartments’ balconies would be overlooking Dove Run properties.

John Paradee, a lawyer from Baird Mandalas Brockstedt representing the developer, presented a slew of defenses for the new apartments Monday, adding that, legally, there are no reasons why council should not approve the conditional use.

“It will not adversely affect the health or safety of persons residing or working in the neighborhood,” he said. “It will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to property or improvements in the neighborhood, and it will not conflict with the general purposes of the town’s comprehensive plan or related planning or development policy. … There is nothing inherent in garden apartments that offends any of these code provisions.”

Mr. Paradee argued that Middletown’s own comprehensive plan cites a need for more affordable housing and a larger variety of residential options.

“The percentage of people living in multifamily homes in your current housing stock is only 10%,” he said. “And that lags significantly behind New Castle County, which is 23%, (and) the state of Delaware, which is 17.8%, and across the United States, which is 26%. So the town of Middletown does not have enough apartments to support affordable housing, and your comprehensive plan bears that out.”

The plan Mr. Paradee cited, however, was established 10 years ago and is under review for an update. Therefore, council members concluded, the arguments he presented were outdated.

Even so, Chuck Longfellow, a longtime Middletown resident, said he believes the apartments are not consistent with the town’s goals.

“I do want to bring forward the fourth goal of the comprehensive plan, which is to ensure that Middletown residents have adequate access to retail, personal and professional service and employment establishments,” he said. “We need more employment on the east side, We need more work in town. We’ve done a lot of things in the past several years to bring more employment, but we need more, so Middletown can stand on its own, so we’re not considered a bedroom community.”

Many other residents agreed with Mr. Longfellow, voicing their desire for more services, rather than more residences, on the east side of town.

In terms of traffic, Mr. Paradee said to look no further than the town’s latest workshop regarding the Eastown Transportation Improvement District. Over the next two years, the Delaware Department of Transportation will outline several improvements in the area to the east, such as roundabouts and road widening, to address severe traffic congestion.

He added that DelDOT estimates that the traffic volume generated by apartments at Dove Run will be approximately one-third the amount that would be generated by shopping center use, for which the parcel is designated. The zoning for the acreage is C-3, which allows both shopping establishments and garden apartments.

Mr. Paradee also listed several areas in Middletown where other garden apartments were approved in C-3 zoning, including the Parkway at South Ridge, The Reserve at Westown, Middletown Crossing and Celebration Court.

He also alluded to pursuing legal action should Town Council deny Capano’s request, referencing a Sussex County case in which a conditional-use permit was denied for James and Jane Gibson, Wilmington residents who own a piece of property on the shores of Lake Comegys in Rehoboth Beach. They requested to build a 3,200-square-foot, three-unit town house. Following the denial, Mr. Paradee said, the Gibsons appealed the decision and won, overturning Sussex County Council’s decision.

“Delaware case law authority says it would be arbitrary and capricious for the town to deny an application for conditional use, which, like the present application, meets all code requirements,” Mr. Paradee said.

However, Mayor Branner refuted several of these claims, with only his constituents in mind.

“I have lived here my entire life,” he said. “And nothing is more important to me than the residents of the town. I don’t care what anybody says.”

He pointed out that the traffic study was completed two years ago, with a planned shopping center, not apartments. Additionally, the apartments approved in C-3-zoned areas were recorded in the comprehensive plan, so people who wanted to buy a house near those zones were aware that apartments could be built nearby.

“All these (homeowners) in Dove Run bought knowing this is going to be a shopping center,” Mayor Branner said. “That was the plan we approved. … If you put apartments here, this is a right-in, right-out. You’ve got an intersection that is clogged on Brick Mill Road right now, so where are all these people in these apartments going to go through? Right through Dove Run.”

Attendees of the meeting roared in applause at the mayor’s comments and more so when council officially denied the request.

Mr. Paradee said he was disappointed with the ruling but that Capano will be going back to the drawing board to consider other options.

Other matters on Monday’s agenda included a proclamation honoring the 200th anniversary of Bethesda United Methodist Church on East Main Street. With the approval, the mayor and council deemed this coming Sunday as Bethesda United Methodist Church Day in Middletown.

The declaration “acknowledges that a special vibrancy exists within a town when its individual citizens and families gather in fellowship and worship at a gathering place that became central to its core.”

Middletown’s public relations officer, Kristen Krenzer, read from the document “a little history lesson,” which detailed how the land for the church was bought for just $50 in 1822 and how it continued to grow in physical dimension, as well as congregation size.

Additionally, Mayor Branner presented the Rev. John Hornberger a signed copy of the proclamation.

In other business, the mayor and council unanimously approved the concept plan for a 4,707-square-foot Chili’s restaurant at 501 Merrimac Ave.

A Dash In gas station, to be built at 405 Middletown Warwick Road, was also passed. The facility will have eight pumps and a 1,344-square-foot carwash.