Advisory board recommends Deep Branch Park plan after Sussex County preliminary approval

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board voted to recommend that the Deep Branch Park preliminary plan be presented to Milford City Council for approval and authorization to solicit bids, after designers said Sussex County granted preliminary approval at tonight’s county meeting.

Becker Morgan Group designer Jonathan Richard told the advisory board the city purchased the site in November 2021 and that the parcel is about 19.4 acres and currently zoned AR-1 in Sussex County. “We were green lighted to go forward, you know, with Sussex County on this,” Richard said, noting a public open house on Sept. 12, 2024 gathered community feedback used to refine the concept.

The plan shown to the board includes roughly seven acres of open lawn, a picnic pavilion, a multi-age playground area, walking and biking trails intended to connect to South Rehoboth Avenue, courts (options include pickleball and basketball), and a two-fixture public restroom. Richard said the team will connect sewer to an existing pump station north of the site and that off-site improvements may be required to reach that pump station. He said geotechnical borings are contracted to determine whether the proposed pond will function as an infiltration pond.

Design lead Austin Duplanti of Becker Morgan Group described the pavilion as an open-sided structure that would tie into the Riverwalk and existing sidewalks. Richard said the concept was refined after the public asked for more buffering between the park and neighboring homes and for limited nighttime lighting: “this is going to be more than likely a dusk to dawn type of park, so we're not proposing any type of lights out there,” he said, adding that Sussex County has a night-light ordinance the project will follow.

Next steps listed by designers include submitting plans to DelDOT (Delaware Department of Transportation), Sussex Conservation District and the State Fire Marshal, and returning to Sussex County for final approval once those agency reviews are complete. Richard said the project team submitted the county preliminary plan on Jan. 22, 2025, and received the county’s approval the evening of the advisory board meeting.

A board member moved and a second was made to present the plan to council for approval and to authorize solicitation of bids; no opposition was voiced and the motion passed. The board discussion recorded no additional conditions to the motion. The designers and staff said they will return with refined drawings and cost information as the agency reviews proceed.

Clarifying details: the city purchased the site in November 2021; designers described about 19.4 acres total and roughly seven acres of open space; the public open house took place Sept. 12, 2024; the preliminary site-plan submission date was Jan. 22, 2025; the plan calls for two public restroom fixtures and requires a sewer connection to a nearby pump station; Sussex County preliminary approval was received the night of the meeting.