LEWES, Del. - The Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet at 5 p.m. to hear from a man looking to bring back Tharros Village in Lewes.
Mike Agnew is the Site Director for Code Purple at the Cape and ran Tharros in 2024. He says Tharros is not an encampment, but a village.
28 tents were placed on the old Troop 7 lot next to the new salt barn. Agnew says portable bathrooms, dumpsters for garbage and case management were provided to the homeless during the Code Purple off season last year. Code Purple is open from Dec. 1 to Mar. 15.
"We have a home for salt but no home for people," said Agnew.
He says he's trying to change that by bringing back Tharros Village.
"The whole purpose behind Tharros is to prevent the encampments and to provide a dignified sanitary environment for our guests where they can then settle in, feel safe, get a good night's sleep and get up and go to work," Agnew explained.
Two minutes away is Jerry DiFazio's new home and second chance. He says he was once homeless for nearly 11 months and left behind everything he loved including his guitars.
He says he wants those people out of the woods but doesn't know if Tharros is the right place for them.
"It's the fires. They start fires, the litter. They just leave every everything. It's not healthy, it's not a healthy situation. It's very dangerous," DiFazio shared.
Another woman in that community, Teresa L. says she is a survivor of domestic violence and was once living in a homeless shelter. Teresa says she doesn't feel comfortable with Tharros but would rather them have actual stable housing on that lot, similar to Savannah West Apartments.
Agnew says the village provides a safer community for everyone around.
"There's health risks, safety risks, environmental risks down in the woods. We don't have that right here at Tharros, so that also reduces ER calls," Agnew explained.
Agnew, DiFazio and Teresa say they want everyone to have housing, but how to achieve that end goal is the question.
The purpose of the meeting is to get a conditional land use permit, Agnew says it's a new requirement under the Meyer Administration. He says he did not need it last year with the Carney Administration.
Agnew says the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission will listen to his presentation Wednesday night and make a recommendation to the County Council within 60 days.
He says on Tuesday, June 17, the council will vote on whether to move Tharros forward. Agenew says Tharros would be up and running within days if approved.