By Glenn Rolfe

LEWES — After protesters cited overdevelopment and uncontrolled growth, Sussex County’s Planning & Zoning Commission on Thursday denied preliminary approval of the Coral Lakes subdivision.

The commission’s 4-1 verdict came several hours after a peaceful protest against it on Georgetown’s Circle.

After commission vice chair Kim Hoey-Stevenson’s motion for approval was seconded and assistant county attorney Vince Robertson offered insight from a law perspective, commissioners Holly Wingate, Bruce Mears, Keller Hopkins and Ms. Hoey-Stevenson voted against the project. Commission chairman Bob Wheatley supported it.

The application called for 315 single-family home lots, off Robinsonville Road, near Lewes. Ms. Hoey-Stevenson’s motion included denial of 11 bonus lots, meaning there would be no more than 304 three-quarter-acre lots on 152 acres, most of which is wooded.

“The zoning code does not prohibit development of wooded areas, but it also does not mandate the approval of bonus density lots that will cause the removal of additional forests,” said Ms. Hoey-Stevenson. “It is illogical to approve bonus density lots that remove forested areas here and receive money to preserve open space somewhere else.”

There is a 30-day window to appeal the decision to Sussex County Council.

The Coral Lakes (previously Coral Crossing) proposal has been the focus of much attention and opposition, including by the Sussex Alliance for Responsible Growth and Sussex2030, two organizations that support controlled development.

“Coral Lakes, if approved, will add another 315 homes to the overwhelming construction that is already taking place along Robinsonville Road,” SARG stated prior to the protest.

According to Sussex2030, that area “is getting filled up with new subdivisions — Acadia, Beechwood, Chase Oaks, Tidewater Landing, Kindleton, Outer Banks.”

Prefacing her motion, Ms. Hoey-Stevenson said, “There are a lot of people saying that we are asleep at the wheel. But I want you to know that we worked very hard on this and listened to everybody as much as we could.”

Mr. Robertson, the county’s legal liaison for planning and zoning, noted prior to the vote that subdivisions “are by Delaware Code, Delaware law, the Delaware Supreme Court, they are governed by the county’s subdivision zoning code. So it’s permitted use. If it is permitted and it meets all the requirements of the specific code, the zoning and subdivision code, then it is permitted. We can condition it on certain aspects, but that also has to be based upon the record.”

He addressed the opposition.

“A lot of people, and understandably so, feel like it shouldn’t be approved in this location, or it shouldn’t be approved because there is too much traffic, or it shouldn’t be approved because there are other subdivisions in the area, or they just don’t want it — the land should be left vacant,” he said. “I think everybody up here can understand that perspective on things. But that is not what the law says.”

The ideal time to get involved with land use is not necessarily during a hearing for a specific application on a subdivision or even a change of zoning for that matter, Mr. Robertson said.

“The time to really get involved is at the time when we deal with our comp plan or when County Council, who has the right to adopt ordinances, when they make the laws the commission has to follow. When the commission gets to the point where it is acting on a subdivision, it is simply following the law. I realize that puts these five commissioners sometimes in a bind because they are stuck within the guardrails of what the law says, and then, the people out in the audience may not appreciate that and understand it,” said Mr. Robertson.

If a proposal involves a zoning change or some different classification, “then the commission does have a lot more discretion,” he continued. “That is not to say that it’s a rubber stamp on these subdivisions. I don’t want to give that incorrect impression either. Because it is incumbent on the applicant and, frankly, the opposition to make a good record, that if there is an appeal in court it would hold up on appeal.”

Ms. Hoey-Stevenson encouraged land preservation.

“My PSA for the night is … www.sclandtrust.org,” she said. “Everybody, look that up. Go home. Make a donation. They buy land to preserve it.”

Mr. Robertson agreed and said, “There has been a lot of interest in this one and other ones. Just get involved. Stay involved with the comp plan process. Stay involved with what happens at County Council.”