Why Should Delaware Care?
A curious legal fight over an apartment proposal in Dover raises questions about conflicts of interest amid a backlash against increased development in the capital city. It also raises questions about transparency in annexation decisions by municipalities.
As CEO of his mother’s real estate company, Roy Sudler Jr. is suing Dover for what he said is its unjustified taking of his family’s land, to make way for a controversial plan to build a mid-rise apartment complex near Delaware State University.
In his role as a Dover City Councilman, Sudler is also a named defendant in the same case.
Sudler acknowledged that his dual roles as politician and local real estate executive place him into a precarious position. But, he said his family’s dispute must be fought, claiming it’s the latest example of what he describes as Delaware’s capital city deferring to interests of developers.
“It’s a conspiracy of a big developer conspiring, in my view, with (city) planners and managers to take our property,” he said in an interview with Spotlight Delaware.
Dover’s mayor, city manager and solicitor declined to comment for this story, citing the pending litigation.
An attorney for the developer – Newtown Pennsylvania-based Patel College Properties – did not respond to a request to comment.
At its core, the legal fight is over ownership of portions of land that sit along the path of a planned – but unbuilt – city road.
If ultimately constructed, the road would extend the existing Raymond Street to the site of a proposed 385-unit apartment complex, which sits behind Delaware State University, and is split from campus by a tributary of Silver Lake.
The six-story apartments – complete with tennis, pickleball and volleyball courts – would also wrap around the top side of property owned by Sudler’s family.
On their land, the family operates their own apartment building, and one that largely rents to lower-income individuals. It is nominally owned by a company called the Apartments at Mishoe Cove, LLC, which in turn is owned by Wilma Mishoe – a former president of Delaware State University and Sudler’s mother.
Today, Sudler serves as CEO of the limited liability company.
For more than a year, the influential Mishoe/Sudler family has argued that parts of their property crosses over the route of the planned road. They also have claimed that an annexation three years ago of property into the city – intended for Raymond Street’s new right-of-way – was done improperly.
Asked why he voted in favor of the annexation as a city councilman, Sudler said he didn’t realize then that it would allow for construction of the new road across disputed property.
Instead, he believed the annexation would lead to better maintenance of the existing Raymond Street that runs in front of his apartment building, he said.
“My family had been asking the city to do improvements to our streets,” he said.
‘Both sides making arguments about ownership’
For their part, city officials have asserted that their annexation was done property, even while some have noted in public meetings that ownership of certain parcels of property have been disputed.
During a meeting of the Dover Planning Commission last year, a private attorney retained by Dover, said the question of who owned parts of the planned street had “overwhelmed” all other discussions about the apartment proposal.
“The record is sort of replete with both sides making arguments about ownership,” he said.
Still, the attorney, Glenn Mandalas, argued during the meeting that Dover’s planning commission is not the proper body to decide the rightful owner – nor to decide whether the city erred in the annexation.
Mandalas suggested those decisions were better left to the courts.
Following his comments, Dover’s planning commission approved the site development plan for the apartment proposal.
After that approval last year, Mishoe and her family company challenged the decision – first with the city’s Board of Adjustment, then in state court asking a Delaware judge to review the decision through what is called a writ of certiorari.
Later that year, the family also directly sued the City of Dover.
In the lawsuit, they named as individual defendants several city officials, including each city councilmember, and Sudler himself.
A court hearing on the city’s motion to dismiss the writ of certiorari will occur Thursday.
A broader backlash?
Last year’s approval of the Patel College Properties project came amid a building boom for apartments across Delaware, following an upward surge for rents in the state.
Among those new proposals is a 384-unit complex planned for land that sits across a set of railroad tracks from the Patel College Properties development.
If both ultimately are built, they would likely add more than 1,000 people to that northern Dover area.
Some residents fear that would change its modest suburban character into one highlighted by increased traffic congestion.
Several open fields still surround the Mishoe Towers apartment, dotted by modular or modest single-family homes.
During another March 2023 Dover planning commission meeting, several city residents, including a handful of elected politicians, expressed those fears and their skepticism of the overall Patel College Properties development.
One woman said she is concerned that her disabled grandchild could be hit while walking along a new Raymond Street.
One man, who is disabled from a past stroke, also feared getting hit by a car while walking along the road.
And, the Rev. Raymond Fisher said he was concerned about college students drinking and driving through the nearby streets.
“When you get that fire water in you, you’re not fully conscious of what you do,” Fisher said.
Rep. Sean Lynn (D-Dover) said during the hearing that he had heard similar critiques, which he called “an outpouring of opposition to this project.”
In response to many of the critiques, the developer’s attorney Dominic Balascio, said during last year’s meeting that his client has followed every city rule required to develop the property. He also noted the city’s Comprehensive Plan identifies the property as appropriate for an apartment complex.
He also noted the city’s annexation of the roadway’s parcels was approved by city council, after the Dover solicitor certified that the parcels in question were marked as a potential roadway more than 100 years ago.
“They can’t be denied access to the right of way at this point because it is a public right of way,” he said.
The post Pulled in opposite directions, Dover Councilman claims city took his family land appeared first on Spotlight Delaware.