Lewes-area BelMead apartment project draws health care into zoning debate

In a county facing no shortage of debates over land use, the development of a Lewes-area project has presented a unique question: Should multi-family housing that’s needed by the region’s workforce in the region should trump other concerns?

Last week, the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Committee considered the redevelopment of the 40-acre BelMead Farm off Route 24 into a mixed-use retail and residential complex featuring 334 apartments.

Few developments in Sussex County, which is experiencing a residential building boom in the last five years with rising home sale prices, have proposed building multi-family projects. Yet, the county’s employers are struggling to attract and retain employees without diversity in the housing stock.

That led Dr. David Tam, the president and CEO of the region’s principal health care system, Beebe Healthcare, to attend the committee meeting and support a particular redevelopment project.

Beebe seeks affordable housing

Tam told the five-member commission that Beebe’s mission to deliver quality health care to southern Delaware is falling short due to staffing shortages.

“I need to recruit more physicians to move here to Rehoboth and Lewes. I am not a pro-growth person, by nature, having come from Orange County, Calif.,” he said. “But I am being surgical to grow quality health care here.”

About a mile from BelMead sits the Rehoboth Specialty Surgical Hospital, the 2-year-old Beebe facility for inpatient and ambulatory orthopedic surgery, featuring four operating rooms, and 24 medical and surgical beds. Tam noted that for every doctor he hires, there will be six nurses, technicians, laboratory workers, administrative and/or front desk staff who are required to assist his or her work. Seeking to serve the region’s rapidly growing retiree population, he particularly wants to expand the surgery center’s treatment of cancer patients with new oncologists, and orthopedic patients with new surgeons.

But a lack of affordable housing has been a limiting factor for trying to attract professionals at reasonable rates, he said. The average home value in the Lewes area was more than $580,000 as of February, according to Zillow.

“They need to be able to come to the new hospital within 30 minutes and I believe this Love Creek property will offer smart growth,” Tam said.

Will apartments be affordable?

While Beebe’s leadership is seeking more affordable housing, the developers of BelMead are only proposing to hold about 10%, or about 34, units under the market rate.

Meanwhile, the remaining 300 units will rent for a market rate between $1,600 and $2,000 per month, depending on the type of unit, according to Michael Riemann, principal from the engineering firm, Becker Morgan Group, which is representing the developer, Capano Management, in the project.

Beebe Healthcare’s doctors, nurses and most experienced support staff would undeniably be able to afford those units, according to a review of salary data from public listings on Indeed.

But, some support roles may not be able to afford BelMead’s market rate apartments on Beebe’s salary scale. A certified nursing assistant role is currently advertised as a range between $38,000 and $59,000 annually, while a radiology tech earns between $59,000 and $89,000, depending on experience.

For the hospital system, some nearby apartments would be an important asset in their recruitment efforts though.

“We can only make our health care world class by attracting talent,” Tam told the commission. “I have read all the studies and I support this proposal for BelMead. We want our nurses to stay with Beebe for their entire careers.”

What does BelMead propose?

BelMead farm is presently an equestrian facility for horse riding, training and competitions. The landowner and developer are seeking a zoning change from agricultural residential (AR-1) to a new planned commercial (C-4) category of mixed use residential/retail. It sits in a Level 2 planning area that has been eyed for development by the state.

The project would sit across the road to the Saddle Ridge community, where housing costs exceed $800,000, and adjacent to Beacon Middle School. It proposes to build 125,000 square feet of commercial/ retail space and up to 337 multifamily housing units across more than a half dozen buildings.

“We believe Sussex County would want to have commercial intermixed along these arterial highways and mixed use/multifamily is the right approach,” Riemann told the commission.

Commission counsel Vince Robertson explained the unique C-4 designation as a “type of development in eastern Sussex County that you have not seen before.”

Sussex County Planning and Zoning Director Jamie Whitehouse agreed.

“The C-4 designation is to encourage more commercialized property development, and this Love Creek meets the technical requirements. Sussex County should prefer mixed use developments like this — it’s like an RPC on steroids,” Whitehouse said referencing residential planned communities.

Community has concerns

Despite the support of local health care leaders, the BelMead project still faces concerns by local residents.

The project would create more than 500 additional vehicle trips per day to one of the busiest corridors in eastern Sussex County, according to Department of Transportation estimates.

And while the project proposes to retain 10.9 acres of woods and 1.6 acres of wetlands, Capano also plans to clear 50% of the trees on the farm.

Jody Rose Seibert, a slow growth advocate with the Sussex Preservation Coalition from Lewes, spoke against the project.

“I spent my career as a U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School teacher. I have invested my life savings to live here,” she said. “I am speaking on behalf of the Route 24 alliance. We see 6,800 estimated vehicle trips on an average weekday already. DelDOT is not concerned about density and the trips per day.”

She added that Lewes Fire Chief William Buckaloo and EMS chiefs had appealed to the Suexx County Council with a March 6 letter to “warn that they are on the verge of having to halt EMS due to the cost of serving the mushrooming population.”