The Milford Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the city council authorize a conditional use permit for a proposed 6,000-square-foot flex-warehouse and to grant two site-plan waivers for curbing and sidewalks at 10 Northwest 10th Street.

The project, proposed by KD/Katy Properties LLC, would place a new flex-warehouse building south of the existing Meineke Car Care Center, subdivide the parcel into two lots and create five tenant spaces in a 6,000-square-foot building. Planning staff said the proposal requires a conditional use under the zoning code because the site would contain four or more nonresidential tenant spaces, and staff recommended consideration of two waivers for concrete curb and for required curb, gutter and sidewalk along NW 10th Street and North Walnut Street.

The commission’s recommendation followed a presentation by the applicant team and a brief public comment period. Applicant David Miller said he is “trying to continue to improve the community” and that the project is necessary for the site to be financially viable. Eric Wall, the applicant’s registered landscape architect, said the plan shows 52 proposed parking spaces, including three ADA spaces; the team’s parking calculation showed 49 spaces are required. Wall also described a 15-foot buffer along adjacent residential uses to be secured by an opaque six-foot fence and native vegetation.

Engineer Alan Decker said the applicant coordinated with DelDOT and proposed a stormwater basin at the southeast corner of the site. Decker explained the applicant’s position on the sidewalk waiver: “The sidewalk is not happening because we’re going to be paying DelDOT a fee in lieu. They’re going to take that money and put it towards this project… If we built that sidewalk, it would be basically ripped up and removed per this project. So why waste that money and effort?” He added that stormwater will “sheet flow” to the proposed basin, infiltrate where possible and tie into city infrastructure.

Nearby resident Jill Lushinski testified in opposition with concerns about pedestrian safety, the lack of sidewalks, unknown tenant uses and traffic flow on Salavan Place, saying, “I’m really concerned about the foot traffic… and the excess traffic along that road.” The applicant’s team responded that the site plan shows a shared access easement from NW 10th Street, that no access to Salivan/Sullivan is proposed, and that the planned opaque fence and vegetation are intended to shield adjacent residences.

At the commission’s motion, members granted the conditional use recommendation and both waiver requests, but attached a condition requiring the applicant to coordinate additional plans for traffic movement and pedestrian flow with city staff and the community prior to final plan approval. Commissioners Purcell, Salves, Wright, Hammond and Sharp recorded affirmative votes; the motion passed 5-0.

The packet materials cited multiple code sections relevant to the approval, including standards in the city zoning chapter for conditional uses and the subdivision code; the applicant will return to the city for final site-plan approval and subdivision processing before construction can begin. The commission’s action is a recommendation to council for the conditional use and waivers; no council action had occurred at the time of the meeting.