By Greg Ellison

(May 20, 2021) Revisions to housing projects at Purnell Crossing north and south were approved by the Berlin Planning Commission in separate votes last week with nary a hint of the consternation expressed by residents when proposals were last put forth in 2019.

The planned unit development, located between Old Ocean City Boulevard and Broad Street, was initially approved in 2001 and has undergone several blueprint modifications since then.

Berlin Councilman and property owner Troy Purnell, who later sold the north portion, said the last requested change for Purnell Crossing south in September 2019 converted seven smaller single-family home lots into a pair of larger properties at a buyer’s behest.

This time, Purnell sought to increase the 19 single-family homes previously approved for Purnell Crossing south to 28 total.

“You’re gaining nine in the same footprint,” he said.

Sufficient space for the extra housing was obtained by reducing lot sizes.

“The half-acre lots are going down to between a quarter or a third,” he said.

Alterations were also made to streetways running along a pond area included in development plans.

“Originally the road design included a 90-degree turn by the pond,” he said.

Street layouts were tweaked to accommodate adequate traffic flow.

“We made the lots smaller and you have two road frontages now instead of just having one,” he said.

The commission voted unanimously to approve the changes with member George Austin Purnell (son of Troy Purnell) abstaining.

Changes were also proposed for three-dozen two-story townhomes previously approved in Purnell Crossing north.

Detailing the revision were consultant Wesley Cox with SVM-Miller Commercial Real Estate and Vista Design principal/founder Steve Engle.

“We tweaked the existing approved site plan,” Cox said. “We took it from 36 approved units and we reduced the density.”

Cox said the overall count was reduced by two units for a total of 34 townhomes.

Other alterations were made to make road visibility more appealing once construction is complete.

“As you’re pulling into this site … the original plan had you looking directly at the back of that center row of units,” he said.

Engel revamped design plans to flip the script for a view of home fronts not rear exteriors.

“From an aesthetics perspective, it’s going to be much more attractive,” he said.

Lastly, townhomes were redesigned to include individual front-facing garages.

Bridgeville, Delaware based Insight Homes, which markets energy-efficient homes, is under contract as builder.

Cox said Insight Homes founder Robert Lisle has received two-dozen awards locally and nationally for his commitment to constructing conservation-minded homes.

“He’s won green builder of the year for entire United States,” he said.

Cox said Lisle’s outfit has a long track record of working to reduce environmental footprints.

“The true benefit is to the owner or occupant of the property in dramatically reduced electric bills, or utility bills in general,” he said.

Cox said the townhomes would be offered as rental units with SVM-Miller handling round-the-clock property management.

“We manage currently about three-million square feet of commercial space on Delmarva,” he said. “There’s going to be someone residents can call with concerns.”

Commission member Matthew Stoehr asked if the rental units would be included in the Purnell Crossing Association whose membership consists of owners of 27-unit existing townhomes.

“I live in Purnell Crossing, would this be part of our HOA?” he said.

Stoehr said the adjacent housing clusters would share an access road.

“How could we share an HOA?” he said. “Or we would essentially have an HOA with rental units in the back.”

Cox said there was serious community concerns after site plan approval in 2019 that included both townhomes and apartment buildings.

The site plan was subsequently split into a two-phase project after Purnell Crossing north was sold by previous owner and developer Justin White.

Cox said the current proposal only involves the first phase for townhomes with a separate site plan for apartment units yet to go under contract.

Stoehr asked if an agreement could be included to restrict renting to tenants seeking subsidized, or Section 8, housing.

Cox said townhome rental fees would likely run $1,500 or higher monthly, which would be cost prohibitive for most individuals seeking lower-priced accommodations.

“The project doesn’t work financially that way,” he said.

Planning Director Dave Engelhart cautioned against including mention of housing subsidies in the motion for approval.

“I’m not sure you could encumber that legally,” he said.

Engelhart questioned whether the motion would break state or federal laws.

“The development or management company, usually the only assurance they can give us to that is that the credit application and the screening for their tenants takes that into account,” he said. “If you can afford the rent out of pocket, whatever your salary is, but you get assistance from the government for your rent, they can’t tell you that’s a disqualifying reason to be a tenant. That’s against federal law.”

Cox said tenants would be prescreened with higher end rents also serving to limit clientele.

“It will look and feel like a community,” he said.

In terms of timelines, Engel said there are infrastructure issues to take into account.

“There is some existing infrastructure that’s going to have to come out,” he said.

Engel said project developer Insight Homes would want to break ground at the earliest date feasible.

“I would think it would done within a year,” he said.

Engel also noted site plans were amended to include a 10-foot pedestrian link to connect the north and south ends of Purnell Crossing.

The commission voted for approval with Chairman Chris Denny opposed.