New Hanover Pits Wider Roads Vs. Less Stormwater

The design for Trotter's Gate, off Dotterer Road

Discussion of a development project approved years ago for 54 townhomes, but now revised to 29 single family homes on 14.1 acres off Dotterer Road, dominated the bulk of last night's board of township supervisors meeting.

It came to the supervisors last night, after receiving a recommendation for preliminary site plan approval as a result of a prior 3-2 vote of the township planning commission.

Proposed by Blue Bell-based Mikelen LLC, the development is preferred by the supervisors, largely because it is fewer units, but it failed to obtain preliminary site plan approval from the supervisors last night, in large part because there were too many unanswered questions.

The new majority on the board has been critical of too many loose ends and incomplete work being done by developers in the township allowed by previous administrations and takes a newly tough line with projects these days.

Supervisors Chairman Charles D. Garner Jr. made clear the board had not problems with previous work done by this developer, but he and the other supervisors could not be persuaded by attorney Joe Clement to grant the preliminary approval with a pledge to comply with the many issues raised in the consultant letters.

One particular problem for the developer is the competing needs of wider roads and less stormwater.

Among the waivers the developer is seeking is for the interior roads on the project to be 30 feet wide, with parking allowed on only one side of the street.

Concerns about adequate parking and being able to get around parked cars are at odds with a desire for less impermeable surface. Wider roads means more stormwater and, as Clement said, that means re-designing the stormwater basins to hold more capacity and, as a result "they might not fit."

Ultimately, if the plan cannot be built as currently proposed, the developers go back to the approved plan for 54 town homes, but "e want to build this plan," Clement said.

Finally, after about an hour of wrangling, the developers agreed to ask for a 30-day extension on the plan while they attempt to determine of there is enough room for larger detention basins necessitated by wider roads.

And without further ado, here are the Tweets from last night's meeting: