West Branch - NCC Public Meeting Poster

West Branch Communications Group

Newark Country Club Development Meeting

Update as of 9/26/08

Since the meeting of 4/23/08 the news and communications about the Newark Country Club Development have really dried up. It appears that progress on this has really been slowed down. It appears the sub-prime lending and housing problems may have had an impact on this project.

As soon as we hear any additional information about this project we will update this page to keep you informed.

Held 4/23/08

This evening we had an extremely good meeting with the Newark Country Club Developer, Bill Stritzinger. Bill was very good to address the concerns and questions from all attending and also very receptive to ideas and suggestions from the audience Bill really demonstrated a genuine interest and encouraged receiving the input from residents on ideas to make the development a place that would take advantage of the beautiful site and be an asset to the community. Bill stated the plan that is currently approved by the Newark City Council is only a preliminary one and that he is more than willing to hear from and work with residents and the City of Newark to create something we can all be proud of.

Participation by the audience was great and in the spirit of working together constructively with the developer and the City of Newark to come up with a plan that would be more attractive and acceptable by the majority of the residents. I believe the majority of the people attending were very pleased with the meeting and are looking forward to additional meetings to discuss the issues and design.

There will be additional meetings of this type in the future and I strongly encourage anyone with an interest to get involved. I will be sure to keep you posted on future meetings and information concerning the Country Club Development as they come up.

Not being a reporter, I cannot begin to give you a good detail of the meeting, but as soon as the article about the meeting appears in the Newark Post, I will distribute it promptly to you.

Many Thanks to Christine Neff, below is a brief write up of the meeting information. Be sure to check the 5/1/08 issue of the Newark Post for the full story.

Developer, residents discuss ways to improve Country Club plan

Bill Stritzinger, developer of the city-approved Country Club Estates, met with concerned residents last week in an effort to seek their cooperation in creating an improved plan for the Newark Country Club property.
“I want a better plan, too,” he admitted to the crowd of about 40 people, many of them neighbors to the site. “I have some ideas. I’m sure a lot of you have ideas.”
Stritzinger said he can pursue city approval for an “overlay zone” that allows more housing units at a higher density in exchange for more open space and a mix of housing types.
Residents at last week’s meeting, organized by the West Branch Civic Association, seemed to favor this idea. Some noted the need for more active adult and continuing care retirement communities in Newark and others were in favor of more affordable townhouse and condominium options.
Stritzinger said he wants to continue meeting with residents to discuss possible uses of the site with the help of professional land use planners.

For the full story, see next week’s Newark Post.

Tides have turned for one of Newark's most contentious development projects in recent years.

William Stritzinger, developer of the city-approved Country Club Estates, met with concerned residents last week in an effort to seek their cooperation in creating an improved plan for the Newark Country Club property.

"I want a better plan, too," he admitted to the crowd of about 40 people, many of them neighbors to the site. "I have some ideas. I'm sure a lot of you have ideas."

The current plan, as approved by city council in February, calls for 270 single-family homes to be built on the 120-acre property along West Main Street at a density of about 2.25 homes per acre. Thirty-eight acres have been set aside for open space.

Many residents who spoke at public meetings during the approval process asked the developer for a "better" plan - one that included more open space, more innovative lot arrangements or cluster housing instead of single-family homes.

Apparently, Stritzinger was listening. But, he said, he felt he needed to go forward with the plan as it stood due to a time crunch and in order to secure "vested rights" in the property.

"We were dealt certain hands with the way the zoning was, and there were things that were pressuring us in terms of time...A lot of this morphed into what the plan became and a lot of you didn't like it," he said. "I didn't like it to begin with, but we had to do it based on vesting in the overall scheme of things."

Stritzinger, a lifelong Newark resident and 25-year-member of the Country Club, offered some insight as to how this project came to be.

About five years ago, he said, the club began to see a drop in membership and revenues and worried about its financial viability. Though it once served as an outpost for Newark, the club, over the years, became increasingly surrounded by housing developments.

"Eventually, they got to a point where the club was locked in," said Stritzinger. "It was landlocked. They weren't able to add any new amenities. In this day and age, it's like any other business - you have to compete or you die."

And so the idea for the "swap" was hatched. Stritzinger and his group of investors, Aston Development Group LLC, promised to build a new facility for the Country Club just over the Maryland state line in order to gain ownership of the Newark property for a housing development.

Both projects took years to flesh out and work through the various approval processes. Work began on the new golf course last summer, and Stritzinger hopes the facility will be finished by August 2009.

In the meantime, he said, he wants to work with Newark residents to improve the plan for the Newark property. He can pursue city-approval for an "overlay zone" that allows more housing units at a higher density in exchange for more open space and a mix of housing types.

Residents at last week's meeting, organized by the West Branch Civic Association, seemed to favor this idea. Some noted the need for more active adult and continuing care retirement communities in Newark and others were in favor of more affordable townhouse and condominium options.

Stritzinger also told residents he would consider offers from parties, such as conservation groups, who want to purchase the property or a large portion of it. But, he warned, the land is very valuable. "You have to know that piece of property is pretty valuable stuff," he said. "They don't make it anymore, especially in New Castle County, especially in walking distance of downtown."

Already, he has made one change to the plan that should please residents. Stritzinger will no longer demolish a home on Country Club Drive in order to provide an access road to the new development - something city council asked to be changed. He said he has a "handshake agreement" with Kevin Mayhew, owner of the new townhouses along Route 896 across from the Laird Campus, to provide a right-of-way for the Estates.

Going forward, Stritzinger said he wants to continue meeting with residents to discuss possible uses of the site with the help of professional land use planners. For information about future meetings, check the West Branch Civic Association Web site, www.westbranchnewark.com.