The Newark Planning Commission last week gave its stamp of approval to a proposal to build three townhouses on Benny Street but recommended against approving a slightly larger project on Corbit Street.
The projects will now move on to city council for consideration. Council has final say over development projects, and the planning commission’s recommendations are non-binding.
At 50 and 54 Corbit Street, developer Mico Slijepcevic is seeking to demolish two rental houses that are nearly 100 years old and replace them with five three-story rental townhouses. Each unit would have four bedrooms.
A parking lot in the back would have space for 15 cars.
Corbit Street was once part of Newark’s thriving Black community but in recent years the area has been nearly completely taken over by student housing. The project site backs up to the large Campus Walk complex.
The project requires relief from numerous code requirements, including lot coverage, lot size, setback and open area.
The city’s commonly used site plan approval process allows developers to request relief from code requirements if they demonstrate distinctiveness and excellence in site design.
Several commissioners took issue with the amount of relief requested.
“I find it hard to believe that for almost every requirement in the code, you’re exceeding or coming short,” Commissioner Karl Kadar said. “It’s as if no attempt was made to stay within most of the requirements.”
Commissioner Chris Williamson concurred.
“Except for the front setback, this is a Baltimore row home,” Williamson said. “I don’t see the excellence in design.”
Commissioner Alan Silverman defended the project, arguing that the code deviations are in line with other projects in the area.
“This likely mimics what’s in the area, literally on Corbit Street,” Silverman said.
The planning commission voted to recommend rezoning the property to multi-family residential and amending the comprehensive plan to high density residential. However, the commissioners voted 2-3 against approving the site plan. Kadar, Williamson and N. Alexine Cloonan cast the no votes.
Slijepcevic can either revise the project to proceed to city council with a negative recommendation.
The second project calls for tearing down the existing rental house at 55 Benny St. and constructing three three-story rental townhouses. Each of the units would have five bedrooms and include three garage parking spaces.
The property is owned by Frank and Sandy Krohe, who also own rental properties on Cleveland Avenue.
The planned development is in an area that is dominated by single-family homes that gradually became student rental houses. In recent years, there have been at least four approved projects in which developers demolished many of the houses and replaced them with apartments.
The Krohes are requesting rezoning to multi-family residential, amending the comprehensive plan to high density residential and site plan approval with relief from several code requirements.
Kadar said he’s not as bothered by the relief requested for this project because it borders a University of Delaware dorm.
The commission recommended council approve the project, with only Williamson and Cloonan opposed to the site plan approval.
“It’s a rubber stamp building on a rubber stamp lot with rubber stamp problems, and thats supposed to be justification for the zoning variance,” Williamson said.
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