Building demolition controversy continues in Dover: board removes appeal from agenda

About 70 people were ready for a debate Wednesday, July 17, about the plan to demolish two historic buildings in downtown Dover to make way for a parking garage.

But the discussion was squelched at the start of the Dover Board of Adjustment meeting at City Hall.

Board member James Keller made a motion to remove from the agenda the appeal by the Friends of Old Dover, the city’s historical society, about the approval process for the demolition.

“Based largely on legal determination … in my opinion the Board of Adjustment does not have appropriate jurisdiction,” Keller said.

The board unanimously approved the motion, and then most of the people at the meeting walked out.

What’s happened so far with the demolition plan?

The Downtown Dover Partnership asked to demolish two buildings that the Partnership is buying at 148 and 150 S. Bradford St., to make way for a proposed parking garage as part of the plan to revitalize downtown. The buildings look like houses, but they are the site of businesses.

The earliest documentation of the buildings is on a 1929 map, said Dover principal planner Dawn Melson-Williams. They are noted as early 20th-century buildings in the National Register of Historic Places inventory of downtown Dover from 1978-79.

The Historic District Commission denied the demolitions, so the Downtown Dover Partnership appealed to the Planning Commission.

At the Planning Commission meeting June 17, the Commission considered the minutes of the Historic Commission meeting and allowed statements from the Downtown Dover Partnership and its representatives about the buildings and parking garage plans. However, no public comments in opposition to the demolition were allowed.

More on the July 17 planning meeting: Against historic commission, Dover planning members allow demolitions for parking garage

Melson-Williams said the city staff looked at the code, which doesn’t specify a public hearing is required for an appeal of the Historic District Commission's decision.

The Planning Commission voted 4-2 to allow the demolitions, overturning the Historic Commission’s ruling.

On behalf of The Friends of Old Dover, the group’s president, Nathan Attard, issued a statement disagreeing with that interpretation of the city code and said a public hearing should have been held by the Planning Commission.

“The code clearly defines the process of an appeal of a Historic District Commission decision as requiring a public hearing. We further believe this action violated Delaware's open meetings law, in that the 20 members of our organization attending the public meeting were not provided an opportunity to address the Planning Commission on this subject,” Attard wrote.

The Friends “remain very concerned” about the proposed demolition of the buildings at 148 and 150 S. Bradford St., “but remain even more concerned about the actions of the Planning Commission and city staff, whether intentional or not, to restrict public comment on this action,” Attard said.

Attard argued that according to city code, “the Board of Adjustment has the authority to hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is any order, requirement, decision or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of the zoning ordinance.”

The request to be on the Board of Adjustment’s agenda “is not an appeal on the demolition itself, but an appeal on the actions of the Planning Commission and its staff,” he said.

Partnership buying the 2 buildings in question

The Downtown Dover Partnership is in the process of buying both buildings at 148 and 150 S. Bradford St.

“The sale is contingent on the results of the environment studies,” said Todd Stonesifer, the partnership’s board president.

Environmental concerns about the buildings include asbestos siding on one building and an underground fuel oil storage tank.

Once the studies are finished, the partnership plans to work with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to safely clean up the properties, and the partnership has received approval for a grant to help with that process.

The plans for the parking garage will have to be approved by the Historic District Commission. Two initial concepts proposed a five-story garage if the two buildings could be demolished and a seven-story structure if the buildings couldn't be torn down.

“We’re planning a design that fits well with the historic district,” Stonesifer said.

What's in the downtown revitalization plan?

The partnership’s revitalization plan, “ Capital City 2030 ,” includes the parking garage with about 400 spaces that will serve as a “transportation hub” with spaces for ride-sharing like Uber and Lyft, rentals of bicycles and/or scooters, and travel and tourist information.

The idea is to provide more parking for downtown business customers and employees, along with residents.

More about Dover: This Delaware city is on the list of 25 'cities on the rise' in Southern Living magazine

The proposed location is about a half-block north of Loockerman Street, between South Bradford Street and South Governors Avenue. Most of the land is a parking lot with a few buildings.

The site is near another part of the revitalization plan, a proposed six-story, mixed-use building on South Governors Avenue with retail space on the first floor and about 150 apartments above on property that was an automobile parts store and before that, an Acme supermarket.

As far as funding for the revitalization, the Downtown Dover Partnership has received $15.1 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, $10 million in state funds in the fiscal year 2025 bond bill and $1 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for environmental cleanup at the sites.

Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate, development and business news. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Building demolition controversy continues in Dover: board removes appeal from agenda