MILFORD — The City Council Sept. 8 approved deed restrictions that let local officials retain key powers at the Milford Corporate Center.
The city’s Planning Department and Economic Development Office crafted the deed restrictions in collaboration with real-estate firm NAI Emory Hill and the law firm of Moore & Rutt PA.
State and local officials broke ground March 4 for the corporate center, which will have 27 lots on 147 acres near Del. 14 (Milford Harrington Highway) and Del. 15 (Canterbury Road).
Under the newly approved restrictions:
The city will retain ownership and control of the site’s maintenance corporation until the City Council designates that authority to a formal maintenance corporation that would be operated by property owners within the corporate center. Such entities often are used by homeowner associations, said planning director Rob Pierce.
“There may be a desire in the future to relinquish maintenance responsibilities to somebody else,” he said. “We’ve left that path open.”
For now, the city’s authority at the corporate center will be similar to what was put in place at the Independence Commons and Greater Milford Business Park, he said.
“We currently do the maintenance for the stormwater and common areas at this time for those two facilities,” Mr. Pierce said.
The Milford Planning Commission will serve as the site’s Architectural Review Committee until the City Council assigns that authority to another entity.
The Planning Commission already has such responsibilities at the other city-owned business parks, Mr. Pierce said.
The city must file a declaration of the deed restrictions with the Sussex County Recorder of Deeds before any properties may be sold at the corporate center, officials said. Otherwise, those properties would not be subject to those rules, they said.
Along with the deed restrictions, officials included modified architectural guidelines in Section 5:15 of the city’s code. Among those requirements is a stipulation that exterior walls on the front of any building have at least 1 square foot of glass — either fixed or openable windows — for every 20 square feet of solid materials.
The council approved the deed restrictions unanimously. The package is “not so restrictive that there is not room for the property owners to have some creativity while still adhering to our code,” said Vice Mayor Jason James Sr.