Brandywine Country Club plan heads to New Castle County Council with chance to end yearslong saga
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🏡 Brandywine Country Club plan heads to New Castle County Council with chance to end yearslong saga
Louis Capano III has been trying to build a housing development at the former Brandywine Country Club since 2015.
He could gain his first approval from New Castle County Council on Tuesday night.
Capano wants to build 365 homes, a mix of single-family homes, townhomes and apartments, on the country club property between Concord Pike and Shipley Road. The bulk of the plan requires a rezoning, which the County Council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday.
The project appeared to have support from most council members present at a land-use committee meeting earlier this week. Many viewed the project as a compromise between the interests of the developer and the community. The development has been modified several times in the past seven years in response to neighboring residents' density and traffic concerns.
PREVIOUS REPORTING: Another new plan for developing the Brandywine Country Club. Here are the pros and cons.
"We have come a long way," said Councilwoman Dee Durham, whose district includes the country club property.
Two changes appeared to shift support among the council.
Recent versions of the project did away with a connecting road from Concord Pike to Shipley Road that residents feared would direct more traffic to their neighborhoods. Capano has committed to donating about 44 acres to Brandywine School District, which plans to build an early education center. The developer will deed-restrict 10 acres of the donation to be preserved as passive or active open space.
"It’s a parcel that the community was used to having as open space even as a private golf course," Durham said.
The previous version of the project required a variance because it had one fewer entrance than required by county code. The Planning Board denied the variance, and the County Council voted to uphold its decision.
To remove the need for a variance, the plan heading to the County Council on Tuesday night divides the development between two entrances. The apartments will connect to Concord Pike and the single-family homes and townhomes will connect to Shipley Road, according to the plan.
🏡 Coral Lakes subdivision to return to Sussex Planning and Zoning Commission
A controversial housing development in Lewes that was initially denied will be reconsidered Wednesday night.
The Sussex Planning and Zoning Commission voted against Schell Brothers' 315-home Coral Lakes subdivision by a 4-1 vote in March. Schell Brothers appealed the decision to Sussex County Council, which voted in May to send the proposal back to the commission to reconsider.
BACKGROUND: In rare move, Coral Lakes subdivision denied by Sussex Planning and Zoning Commission
Because a public hearing has already been held, the commission will consider only what's already in the public record before voting on the project Wednesday.
Schell Brothers wants to build 315 single-family homes on Robinsonville Road south of Kendale Road and across from the Chase Oaks neighborhood. The plan calls for 95 acres of forest to be cleared.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Brandywine Country Club plan heads to New Castle County Council with chance to end yearslong saga
