IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
GERALD A. LECHLITER, §
§ No. 619, 2015
Petitioner Below- §
Appellant, §
§
v. § Court Below—Superior Court
§ of the State of Delaware
SUSSEX COUNTY PLANNING §
AND ZONING COMMISSION, J.G. § C.A. No. S15A-05-003
TOWNSEND, JR. & CO., and JACK §
LINGO ASSET MANAGEMENT, §
LLC, §
§
Respondents Below- §
Appellees. §
Submitted: March 4, 2016
Decided: April 28, 2016
Before HOLLAND, VALIHURA, and VAUGHN, Justices.
ORDER
This 28th day of April 2016, upon consideration of the parties’ briefs
and the record below, it appears to the Court that:
(1) The appellant, Gerald Lechliter, filed this appeal from the
Superior Court’s order dated May 11, 2015 and from the letter opinion dated
October 20, 2015, which denied reargument. The Superior Court dismissed
Lechliter’s “Petition for Writ of Certiorari and Appeal” as untimely. After
careful consideration, we find no merit to the appeal. Accordingly, we
affirm the Superior Court’s judgment.
(2) The underlying matter involves a subdivision application filed
by the appellees, J.G. Townsend, Jr. & Company (“Townsend”) and Jack
Lingo Asset Management, LLC (“Lingo”), as the owner and developer,
respectively, of the subdivision referred to as Harbor Point. On March 12,
2015, the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission (“the
Commission”) granted preliminary approval of Harbor Point with
conditions. The Commission notified Townsend and Lingo that the
preliminary approval was valid for three years, during which time the
conditions must be satisfied. On May 7, 2015, Lechliter filed his “Petition
for Writ of Certiorari and Appeal” with the Superior Court, seeking to
challenge the Commission’s decision. On May 11, 2015, the Superior
Court, sua sponte, dismissed Lechliter’s petition, holding that the petition
was untimely under Section 99-39C of the Sussex County Code1 and 9 Del.
C. § 6918.2
(3) Lechliter filed a motion for reargument. Thereafter, the
Superior Court directed legal counsel for the Commission to file a response
to the motion for reargument and permitted Lechliter to file a reply. The
1
Section 99-39C of the Sussex County Code provides that appeals to the Superior Court
shall be “in the same manner as appeals from decisions of the Board of Adjustment as
specified in 9 Del. C. § 6918.”
2
9 Del. C. § 6918 provides that a person aggrieved by a decision of the Board of
Adjustment “may present to the Superior Court in and for Sussex County, a
petition….within 30 days after the filing of the decision….”
2
Superior Court issued a letter opinion, which was dated October 20, 2015,
denying Lechliter’s motion for reargument. The Superior Court expressly
rejected Lechliter’s contention that his filing was not untimely because he
had 60 days under 10 Del. C. § 8126 to file his petition, holding that § 8126
only applies to final approvals and the Commission’s approval in this case
was only preliminary. The Superior Court also held that, under § 99-39 of
the Sussex County Code, Lechliter’s right of review of the Commission’s
decision approving the preliminary plat plan was to the Sussex County
Council. Even if Lechliter had not been required to exhaust his
administrative remedies by filing his petition with the County Council first,
the Superior Court found that his petition was still subject to dismissal
because it was untimely under 9 Del. C. § 6918. This appeal followed.
(4) The Court has carefully considered the parties’ briefs and the
record on appeal. We find it evident that the judgment below should be
affirmed on the basis of and for the reasons assigned by the Superior Court
in its well-reasoned letter opinion, dated October 20, 2015, denying
Lechliter’s motion for reargument. The Superior Court properly held that,
even if Lechliter could have overcome the presumption favoring the doctrine
of exhaustion of administrative remedies, his petition was still subject to
summary dismissal because it was untimely under 9 Del. C. § 6918.
3
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the
Superior Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Karen L. Valihura
Justice
4