LEWES, Del. - A tennis court, a top layer of the road, proper drainage and more: these are the things some people who live in the Heron Bay development off Beaver Dam Road in Lewes say they are missing.
Chris Pollinger and Hack Jones say they've been fighting with the developer for years to get their promised amenities.
"We're not getting what we paid for, and we're not getting cooperation," says Pollinger.
They say there are myriad issues, such as the swales constantly flooding, and at one point they had a sinkhole in one of their streets for a year before it was fixed. The two say they love where they live, but they want what's due.
"We refuse to let this development turn into a development where we're even embarrassed to say where we live, and that's our main goal," says Jones. "All we want is what people were promised."
They say they've gone to Sussex County Council many times, and representatives for the county have visited the development to see their complaints. Newly elected District 3 Councilman (where Heron Bay is) I.G. Burton says the county is working with all parties involved to come to a solution, but that it takes time. He says going forward, there needs to be an enforceable timeline put in place for developers to complete amenities.
"If you buy into a development, and there's promises made, promises have to be delivered and there has to be a timeline," Burton tells WBOC. "We need to put standards in place and we need to put timelines in place."
Heron Bay Associates says they are aware of these complaints, and issued the following statement to WBOC:
Heron Bay Associates has been diligently working with Sussex County to complete development at Heron Bay.
With regard to amenities in the community, the clubhouse and pool were installed during the initial phases of the project. In 2013, at the request of the residents a children’s play area was installed. At this time the developer is working to complete the installation of the amenities, and to that end a meeting was held on December 15, 2016 with Sussex County to discuss and clarify the remaining required amenities and their related specifications.
The results of that meeting are presently under review by the County, and it is the developer’s understanding that such results are to be presented for approval to the Planning Commission at an upcoming meeting of the Commission. Once a plan is approved, the developer will commence the procurement process, with the intent of completing installation of the amenities in the spring of this year.
Additionally, the developer is continuing to work with Sussex County on certain drainage issues that arose during home construction within the community. In that regard, the developer has to date repaired 102 swales, reset 19 driveway culvert pipes, reset one 100’ culvert pipe, and cleared one 100’ culvert pipe of debris in the interest of ensuring adequate and proper drainage for the community.The developer will continue working with Sussex County until all open matters are satisfactorily resolved, and is committed to the successful completion of the Heron Bay community.
