A new office building received conditional use approval at a recent City Council meeting. The building, which will be constructed by CCGTL Properties, will replace a current building that houses offices, but will add an additional office space. City code requires that four or more office spaces require conditional use.
“The proposed use would be a second building adding a fourth tenant space to the property. The property is located along the west side of North Rehoboth Boulevard, addressed as 282 North Rehoboth Boulevard,” City Planner Rob Pierce said. “What the applicant proposes to construct is a new 2,400 square foot office building on the property that already contains an existing building with a little over 1,900 square feet on it.”
In addition to the conditional use, CCGTL Properties was requesting additional variances to the parking lot configuration.
“This evening, the applicant seeking a waiver from Chapter 230-2020(k) which states all permanent parking areas shall be enclosed with upright curving at least six inches in height. The project is an expansion of an existing commercial site that has an illegal, non-conforming parking lot design,” Pierce said. “The applicant is seeking permission to maintain the existing parking lot with minimal modifications, which includes not providing upright curbing. The second waiver they’re seeking from the city is from Chapter 197-14, which states in any new construction sites, the city shall require a builder to install curb, gutter and sidewalk along the right of way. The applicant is proposing to not install curb, gutter and sidewalk along North Rehoboth Boulevard as DelDOT has required the applicant to pay into a shared use path and sidewalk fund that will go towards future construction of pedestrian facilities in the area.”
Councilman Dan Marabello asked how many parking spaces the building would have and how many they were requesting to reduce. Pierce stated that the Board of Adjustments had already approved the reduction in parking spaces and that he only provided that information for council’s benefit.
“Basically, what we’re taking is a property that we’ve upgraded since we purchased it four or five years ago, and there’s excess land behind us that we’d like to utilize, just based on it being a commercial property, we want to install the building behind the current building,” Justin Allen of CCGTL Properties said. “The existing parking lot remains, and it helps us to keep from encroaching on additional ground cover, which is a conservation issue. The building behind us is, honestly it will probably look better than the building up front, but it’s going to have four offices, a general meeting area of about 20 to 25 people, two restrooms and a break area.”
Allen continued.
“We have been talking to Mr. Walpole about potential tenants. He seems to think that we’re going to get rich off this project. And I’m just joking, he doesn’t think that, but we are going to make more than we apparently initially thought. Some of the things he was addressing directly adjacent to us is the pie shaped lot where there used to be a building that was condemned and removed right after we purchased our lot that’s currently a wide open piece of property, and I don’t know what the neighbor in the beauty salon on the corner is going to do, but if we were to put in curbing that water that flows through there from up the road.”
Allen explained that the property was on the downhill die of North Rehoboth Boulevard and if they were required to put up curbing, it would cause pooling of water that would sit on the lot belonging to the beauty shop.
“On the front of the property, as you can see, there’s a nice gray area that’s going to be grass seed, according to DelDOT, because that’s their requirement. So, we don’t just pull right out onto North Rehoboth Boulevard, Allen said. We did pay $5,400 for the future development of a bike path and whatever DelDOT wants to put in front of the building, but that is the proceeds they requested from us to grant us the ability to cut through the concrete in front of our building.”
Allen continued.
“We do have trees, and we went with trees and a fence, because obviously the encroachment on our neighbors is not something we want to do, and we have open communication with our neighbors,” Allen said. “There is open space behind us, like I stated earlier, but still, that communication is paramount, because we don’t ever want our neighbors to have an issue. Some of the things we’re worried about potentially, which, honestly, we have the best police department around, is potential people getting in and behind the building and whatnot. We’re going to place security cameras and stuff out there.”
Councilman Danny Perez questioned how safe the driveway would be without improvements.
“The question I have, coming from up from north. I know exactly where the property is. Is there any accommodation for people making a left turn into the property? Because a street is right there. That’s another left turn going north, on North Rehoboth Boulevard,” Perez said. “So going into this property, I don’t know exactly how many employees they plan to have at this location and visitors to the property, My concern is making a left turn on the into a street, and then just prior to that, maybe less than 75 feet, then you’re making another left turn.”
Pierce stated that the road configuration would remain the same along Rehoboth Boulevard.
“The only thing that DelDOT is making them do is remove that strip of asphalt to channelize the entrance, to kind of reduce the free for all on their property,” Pierce said. “Right now, they can make a left turn anywhere along their frontage into a parking spot. This is going to pull it further to the south, away from Eighth Street. But DelDOT did not require any modifications to Rehoboth Boulevard as far as left turn lanes.”
Perez suggested that DelDOT be asked to add a center left turn lane on Rehoboth Boulevard to make the area safer. During the public hearing portion of the request, one person spoke in favor of the project.
“We’re the economic development organization for Kent County. So we focus on business traction, while also supporting businesses that are here, stay here and grow here,” Zach Prebula, Director of Operations for Kent Sussex Partnership, aid. “So, part of our role in doing that is we offer site selection services, so we help companies find locations that fit their needs. And part of that is going through all the commercial properties in the county and in Milford as well, and supporting that by finding the location, sending it to the business and trying to attract them here, help them grow here. This this project adds to our inventory, which adds to the availability of properties, which increases the chances that we have to attracting and helping the businesses grow and stay here. So, for those reasons, we ask you, please support this project.”
No one spoke in opposition to the project. After a motion was made and seconded to approve the project, a roll call vote was taken.
“I approve this project for two reasons,” Marabello said. “It conforms to our code and it had overwhelming support from the Planning Commission.”
Councilwoman Nadia Zychal also approved of the request.
“I’d also like to vote yes to approve for the reason that all the agencies were on board with the project, as was the Planning Department and the Board of Adjustments,” Zychal said. “I wish them well.”
Both Councilwoman Lori Connor and Councilman Michael Stewart voted yes for reasons stated by Marabello and Zychal.
“I approve the project. I think it is a great project. It will clean up a little bit of that area there, it needs to improvement, and will enhance the property,” But then front of KSI, however, my concern is that going forward will be a problem with the traffic configuration. I live right behind that. And I can say from personal knowledge, there is a problem when you make a left turn into a street going north, and the speed on that highway there is supposed to be 35 miles an hour. And if you have more volume of the traffic coming into that property once it’s all completed and their full 40 staff and they got clients coming in, it’s going to present a problem. But I do approve the project, because I think it’s an excellent project.”
Councilman Jason James also voted yes for the project.
“I vote yes for the granting of the variances that have already been approved, and for the complying with DelDOT and for the interest and for the payment into the fund to DelDOT for future improvements along that side of Rehoboth Boulevard,” James said.
Councilwoman Katrina Wilson also praised the applicant for paying into the DelDOT fund for improvements.
“I vote yes in agreement with just about everybody else,” Wilson said. “And it does make me feel good that the future plans of putting funds aside to enhance the sidewalks. I never want to forget the enhancement of the sidewalks for the future. I’m happy that’s in place.”
The motion passed with a vote of seven to zero as Councilwoman Madula Kalesis was absent.
