Milton’s planning and zoning commission approved sending a series of waivers for Phase 4 of Cannery Village to town council, but agreed to table the developer’s preliminary site-plan review until after the waivers get final approval from town council.

Developer Chestnut Properties II received preapproval from the commission on waivers allowing them to reduce the size of required parking spaces, limit a sidewalk to one side of the street and build a longer-than-allowed dead-end street.

Project designer Brock Parker of Salisbury-based Parker Associates said the project will include 117 units, each with a garage and two parking spaces in the driveway. Parker said there will also be 97 surplus parking spaces throughout the project.

He said the new development will have access to the amenities of Cannery Village, but there will be no pedestrian walkways or driveway connections between this parcel and the rest of the development. Parker said the streets have all been reviewed by the Delaware State Fire Marshal for fire truck accessibility and have been approved.

Cannery Village has 221 units. With this addition, the development will have 338 units. Parker said the development’s large-parcel development plan was approved for a maximum of 538 units.

Cannery Village IV is located across Cave Neck Road from Dogfish Head’s truck entrance. Access to the development would come from Front Street. Parker said while that was not ideal, it was the only entry access point approved by Delaware Department of Transportation. While there is a sidewalk on only one side of the development’s main entrance road, the rest of the project will have sidewalks on both sides of the street, Parker said. Two other roads, Elder Lane and Aldersbrook Road, will end in cul-de-sacs. As planned, they are 650 feet long instead of the allowed 400 feet.

Citizens in attendance raised concerns about the development’s traffic and impact on the town.

Virginia Weeks, a resident of Clifton Street, said she wanted to see right-hand turn lanes on Front Street and Cave Neck Road to get into the development. She also said the developer is trying to shoehorn too many units into too small an area.

“This is like an orangutan trying to fit into a chimpanzee’s skin,” Weeks said.

Randy Lewis, who lives in Millsboro but was born and raised in Milton, said he was concerned about the growth and density along Cave Neck Road. He said the traffic is already bad, and it will only get worse when 117 more units are filled. Lewis said he was also concerned about the loss of trees to make way for the units, runoff going into the Broadkill River, and safety problems.

The commission decided to hold off on beginning site-plan review until town council gives final approval of the waivers at its Monday, April 1 meeting. The committee had a number of unanswered questions still to be addressed, such as the design of the Front Street entrance, the use of retention ponds for stormwater management, trees and landscaping, and the jurisdiction delineation of what land may be in Sussex County and what land is in Milton.

The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, although no agenda has been released.