12 - CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, September 13 - September 19,1996
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DeBraak charrette set for Lewes Library Sunday
The diagram above shows a site plan, to seale, of the DeBraak property and surrounding
land at the end of Savannah Rd. in Lewes. The property will be the focus of a public meeting
known as a charrette on Sunday, Sept. 15 beginning at 10 am. in the upstairs public meeting
room of Lewes Public Library. Purpose of the meeting is to conduct a brainstorming session
on different development scenarios for the three plus acre parcel Tom Payne, one of the own-
ers of the DeBraak property - and the vacant building that has never been completed -
arranged for the charrette as a means of getting the people of Lewes to help come up with a
development design that would gain the community's political support. Payne's hope is that
people will use the drawing shown here to prepare some design alternatives for use of the
property. David Dutton of the Design Exchange, an architectural firm on Second Street in
Lewes, will conduct the =charrotte which is a design device that has become popular in re-
cent years across the country to help communities develop consensus on projects. Payne feels
that the entire parcel at the end of Savannah Rd. should be part of a design plan rather than
trying to come up simply with a plan for the DeBraak property alone which is a little more
than an acre. All the land bounded by Savannah Rd., Lewes Beach parking lot, Cape Hen-
lopen Drive and Virginia Ave. (the back entrance to Lewes Beach parking lot) is zoned com-
mercial and Payne would like to see ideas presented which recognize the commercial value of
the Delaware Bay.front property. The so-called Rico property, which Lewes Council members
at their Monday, Sept. 9 meeting refused to extend a lease on to former holders of a commer-
cial lease there, is about one acre of ground situated at the Virginia Av and Cape Henlopen
Drive corner of the larger block of land. Once all ideas have been presented, Dutton will at-
tempt to combine them into an overall plan for what the public feels would be acceptable de-
velopment of the parcel Payne said previously that this will be his company's last attempt to
come up with a viable development plan for the property. =If this doesn work, he said, awe
will be forced to lower our asking price on the DeBraak property until somebody agrees to
buy it and use it for who knows what. My great hope however is that we can come up with a
plan that will result in a project that all of us will be proud of.
Lewes denies request for Rice property lease extension
fast gained control of the property
in 1965 when Lewes granted him
a lease at a fee of $1 per front foot,
per year, for fifteen years with an
option for an additional fifteen
years.
Several Lewes officials, includ-
ing Mayor George Smith and for-
mer City Manager Ron Donovan,
recalled that in 1980 Rice asked to
exercise his 15 year option and
that he be granted an option for an
additional 15 years at the same
terms.
"Andy came before city council
and asked for a renewal of the
lease under the same terms for an-
other 15 plus 15," said Donovan
during Monday's meeting. "The
mayor and council at the time vot-
nd to offer the renewal at $10 per
foot. Andy said 'Why. should I do
that? I'll pay the $1 per foot and
renew it as it is,'" said Donovan.
"Others were offered the $10
per foot option and chose to go
with it," said Mayor Smith who
served as a member of city coun-
cil at the time. "He chose not to."
Marshall argued that Linda
Morrow had continued to pay on
the lease through the years, had
asked for an extension in 1993 -
which was the fast time she could
ask for an extension under the ex-
isting lease law - and had never
done anything to harm the proper-
ty.
"She should be offered the op-
portunity to renew the lease under
the new 99 year term that the com-
mercial lease committee recom-
mended and the town adopted
several months ago," said Mar-
shall. "This property should be
treated no differently than any
other. Others have been offered to
convert their leases."
He said if the lease were grant-
Continued on page 13
By Dennis Forney
Lewes Council members voted
unanimously at their Monday,
Sept. 9 meeting to deny a request
for extending the commercial
lease on the so-called Rice proper-
ty on Lewes Beach.
The vote ends, at least for the
time being, controversy swirling
around the approximate one acre
of dune land at the corner of Vir-
ginia Ave. and Cape Henlopen
Drive since 1980. The property is
home to an overgrown and long-
vacant one story building that at
one time housed a snack bar.
The vote to deny the lease ex-
tension came at the end of a long
presentation by attorney Doug
Marshall on behalf of Bruce and
Linda Morrow. Linda Morrow in-
herited an interest in the property
when her father, Andy Rice, died
in April of 1986. Rice, the origi-
nal leaseholder of the property,
Candidates Crystal,
Schroeder address
37th District issues
By Dennis Forney
Harry "Hap" Crystal and John
Schroeder faced a small crowd in
their first joint appearance as can-
didates for the 37th district repre-
sentative seat. But neither cut his
comments short.
The occasion was a candidates'
forum sponsored by Lewes
Homeowners Association at
Lewes Public Library on Friday,
Sept. 6.
Crystal, a retired Delaware
State Police officer who works
now in the state's insurance fraud
division, said the major problems
he feels that need to be addressed
in the 37th district include growth
and development, public educa-
tion, crime, and the West Re-
hoboth Sewer District.
Schroeder, a banker with Bald-
more Trust Company, said if
elected he would continue to fo-
cus on the needs of the state's nat-
ural resources. "I still don't see
many people in the state who are
as concerned as I feel they should
be about conservation and preser-
vation of our natural resources."
Sehroeder said his priorities in
1988, when he was first elected,
were conserving and preserving
natural resources, conservative
management of state funds, and
being accessible and accountable
on all issues. He noted that he
sponsored legislation outlawing
dumping of wastes in state waters
and has been instrumental in leg-
islation leading to creation of the
Inland Bays Enhancement Act
and the Wastewater Advisory
Council that intwo years has
amassed $25 million in state funds
to be directed toward helping to
fund wastewater projects.
He said he continues to work on
getting a $I0 million state grant to
help ease the burden of sewer bills
for those in the West Rehoboth
Wastewater District.
''he Governor told me recently
that be is looking very vigorously
at the possibility of a grant," said
Schroeder.
Schroeder said he has also been
involved in legislation regulating
use of jet skis, preservation of
fisheries, and open space and
farmland preservation.
"The state's economy is very
strong," Schroeder told the crowd
of about three dozen. "We have
one of the nation's lowest unem-
ployment rates, balanced budgets,
a rainy day fund in excess of $90
million, and one of the highest
bond ratings in the nation. There
have also been 20 tax decreases in
the past eight years representing
$60 million worth of personal in-
come. The 37th district, with
15,000 registered voters, is the
second largest representative dis-
trict in the state. I hear from peo-
ple daily and there are three news-
papers here to whom I have to be
accountable."
Pubfic education concerns
Bill Campanero asked Crystal
what he would do to improve pub-
lic education in Delaware.
"We're getting gypped," said
Campanero. "The kids aren't
learning in schools."
Crystal replied that he would
work to return more control of
schools to local school boards. He
said he would cut administrative
positions at the state Department
of Public Instruction and return
those funds to local school boards.
"We need to return a sense of ac-
countability to our school sys-
tem," said Crystal. "Our rising
crime rate is unique in the coun-
try. We need alternative schools
for disruptive students. Our re-
sponsibility is to the majority of
students. I'm impressed with the
approach to discipline I see in the
Cape Henlopen schools but I'm
not sure that's happening through-
out Delaware. We have to deal
with behavioral problems. Other-
wise we're letting our students
down. Only by addressing these
problems can we hope to raise the
standard of education in
Delaware."
Schroeder said that legislation
passed in recent years holds teach-
ers more accountable for prob-
lems created by students. He also
said the charter and choice school
legislation are making schools
more accountable. He said the
Continued on page 15
.... 2
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Harry qiap" Crystal Oeft) and John Sehroeder field ques-
tions at a Lewes Homeowners candidates forum held Sept. 6.
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