Capano fined $250 a day for state of Brandywine Country Club

Louis Capano III bought Brandywine Country Club with the intent to build hundreds of homes. But the iconic Delaware property has fallen into such disrepair, New Castle County has started fining the developer $250 a day.

The fines were issued after an inquiry to New Castle County code inspectors from The News Journal — weeks after Capano's deadline for remedying the code violations on the 111-acre property between Shipley Road and U.S. 202. 

The country club closed in 2015. Denise Haines lives in the neighboring Pierson Farms development and said people regularly use the course for walking and jogging although it is private property. 

Of particular concern to her is a large swimming pool partially filled with water and debris.

"I'm afraid that kids, because of their unpredictable nature, will wander in there and fall in and get injured," said Haines, who started the Citizens Against Rezoning Inc. group to fight Capano's plans to build hundreds of homes on the land.  

County officials first issued a violation for a large, dead tree branch in February.

Capano appealed that violation before an arborist hired by a neighbor of the property inspected the tree, leading to it being added to a suite of additional violations in July, said the county's Assistant Land Use Manager Jim Smith.

Those July code violations included an unsecured, partially drained swimming pool, unsecured buildings, high grass on the property and the dead tree branch.

In August, officials held a hearing that was not attended by Capano's organization, Shipley Road Investments LLC, and ruled the company had until Sept. 21 to fix those code violations.

A one-time hearing fee of $300 was assessed and the county said it would begin charging a daily fine of $250 if Capano failed to meet the deadline. 

On Oct. 16, nearly four weeks after that deadline, The News Journal sent an email to county officials inquiring about the violations. 

The following afternoon, Jason Miller, spokesman for County Executive Matt Meyer, said county inspectors visited the country club that morning and found the pool fencing in disrepair; high grass and noxious weeds growing on the land; water, trash and debris in the pool; a dead tree and an unsecured building. 

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Miller said the $250 daily fines would be charged retroactively to the deadline. Those fines are to be assessed until the matter is remedied.

Reached Tuesday morning, Capano said he thought the violations regarding the pool and the unsecured buildings had been taken care of "months ago."

"I think everything has been sorted out except the trees," Capano said.

In an email, Smith said inspectors had visited the property three times since the deadline and noted that the violations had not been corrected.

He said fines were not issued on the first inspection after the deadline because officials were trying to work with Capano to fix the problems before resorting to fines.

"One of the reasons this went on a while (after the deadline) was that (Capano) has generally been responsive," Smith said. 

The pool previously had a plastic construction barrier around it. Later, a chain-link fence was installed. Smith said that was still in violation after the Oct. 17 inspection because the latch to close the fence was not working property.

Inspectors also photographed a door left open on one of the property's buildings and debris in the bottom of the pool on the Oct. 17 visit. Smith said another inspection will occur this week.

"I feel like it was lax on the county," Haines said. "If it had been a normal person ... we would have been tortured daily. Why isn't that happening to him?" 

Capano said the tree hadn't been taken care of because it wasn't marked and he didn't want workers cutting down the wrong tree. He said county officials have not followed up with his company's inquiry into which tree is in violation.

Smith disagreed. He said inspectors had been in contact with representatives from Capano's organization and had marked the tree.

Capano said the land is under a constant eye by county inspector because of neighbors' "opinions on what we should or should not do." 

"We are continually working with the county," Capano said. "It is a 120-acre site. There is a constant with county wanting us to change something."

In addition to morning and evening walkers, the course has also become a track for young people on all-terrain vehicles, Haines said. 

"There is also lots of motorbike activity," Haines said. "They fly down our street and they cut into there." 

Neighbors are watching closely as Capano works with county regulators to develop the country club, which was a community staple for 70 years before closing in 2015.

The purchase price in unclear. Real estate transfer tax records indicate the purchase price was around $1 million, but Capano said that was incorrect. He said he couldn't remember an exact figure but said it was around $5 million.

Capano's attorneys earlier this year presented plans to build 563 new residences on the course.

In July, county regulators told Capano that the 408 apartment units he wants to build alongside 155 new homes on the 111-acre course are too many.

The ruling was an incremental step as the development moves toward approval but local resident groups cheered the decision.

Haines' group is specifically aimed at denying the proposed rezoning of the property. A rezoning would allow more homes and commercial aspects.

She said traffic on Shipley Road, one of the development's proposed outlets, will overwhelm the area. 

"It's just too many people and homes in a small area," Haines said. "North Wilmington is already so built up, they are not going to leave any green space." 

Capano said he is working with local officials to schedule another meeting for his revised proposal. That new layout has not been officially submitted to county regulators yet.

"It is pretty similar to the plan we had before," Capano said.  

He said the number of residences will be similar, but with a different mix of housing types.

He said the plan will also include a roundabout on Shipley Road, moving a road connecting U.S. 202 to Shipley Road through the development closer to the course's center and farther away from neighboring subdivisions. There would also be large buffers between the project and adjacent homes. 

"We have made a lot of changes the community asked for," Capano said. 

A scion of one of Delaware's most prominent developer families, Capano's various organizations are building houses throughout the state and region. 

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He is building phase two of a 360-unit apartment development in Middletown. He is also building 120 for-rent townhouses in Ocean View. Another 70-apartment building is being constructed at a new site on Wilmington's Christina Riverfront. 

His company has also been going after existing apartment buildings. In August, he announced the purchase of a 231-unit highrise at 1303 Delaware Ave. in Wilmington's Trolley Square neighborhood. The complex was branded as Parq at the Square. 

In all, his company currently manages about 4,500 apartments in Delaware and 500 in Florida, he said. 

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.