The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • A4

4A WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 THE NEWS JOURNAL The meeting Monday night lasted nearly seven hours, with residents speaking both on behalf of and against the hotel. good to see the passion through- out the city, whether or not you all said Councilman Stu Markham, acknowledging that even he might pre- fer a smaller building. But the solicitor had reminded council members to base their decision on whether the hotel would ad- versely the health or of Newark residents or detrimental to the pub- lic welfare or injurious to property or im- we follow our code, the next stop is Markham said. if we follow our code, going to Jerry Clifton raised similar concerns about voting no. are constitutionally sworn he said.

have to follow the rule of Two members of the seven-person council voted against the plan: Jennifer Wallace and Mark Morehead. Street is overwhelmingly retail and residential. This is said Wal- lace, who felt the hotel would detrimen- tally the character of downtown. Morehead had similar concerns. Lang Development Group, which owns Finn among other build- ings, plans on demolishing much of the Green Mansion a historic Italianate- style building with distinctive green granite and incorporating the into the new hotel.

Lang would likewise demolish the nearby Shoe Repair building next to Gelato. The development group would es- sentially merge three addresses 92, 94 and 96 East Main Street into one. Fierce debate The plan has provoked debate in Newark, where several longtime resi- dents have spoken out against the hotel, calling it out of and out of not opposed to a hotel on Main Street, but this project seems entirely out of scale for our Sheila Smith said Monday night. is not a big town a crowded little town, and this big building will feel Michael McGrath, interim president of Preservation Delaware, urged the City Council to save the mansion. buildings are a key compo- nent of the history and the quality of life in small towns and cities like he said.

not just about the past, about the An architectural historian from the University of Delaware expressed con- cern that an advisory committee had not been formed to weigh in on how the Green Mansion could be preserved as part of the hotel design process, which he said city code calls for. the Green Mansion, which is argu- ably one of the most, if not the most, historic structure in the city of Newark does not trigger this, what will trigger he asked Monday. There were also several community members in favor of the development because of its potential to re-energize Main Street and serve as a boon to the businesses there. believe a project like this can help Newark Mike Monagle, owner of Delaware Running told the coun- cil, asking them to vote yes. believe it can help Newark continue to A representative from Aetna Hose, Hook Ladder Company said the hotel represented additional tax revenue, which could help fund the depart- ment.

He also said the Green Mansion as it stands poses a hazard. Earlier this month, the seven- member Planning Commission dead- locked over the project, voting 3-3 on the plans. One member was absent. Those who voted against the project were concerned about both the size and the impact the development would have on parking. Right now, Lang leases some of its property on Main Street to the city for parking.

The hotel would take back about 70 spaces from City Lot No. 3. The parking garage would have 244 parking spaces, and the development group estimates that, depending on how full the hotel is, between 36 and 130 of those will be open to the public. The new hotel The $30 million building would be seven stories tall and would feature the following: A 144-room Hyatt hotel A restaurant for public and guest use 19,500 square feet of space on the second and third 10,500 square feet of commercial space An open terrace on the fourth with a swimming pool An ivy-covered parking garage that would be open to the public, as well as hotel guests Preservation of about 34 feet of the Green Mansion, worked into the design of the new hotel. The back half of the building will be torn down.

Green granite or stone will be carried up to the third or fourth in keeping with the historic roots. The building itself will be about 79 feet tall, which is allowed under city code but rises above nearby buildings. It would be built like a the development group said, with the tallest part of the building set back 60 feet from the street. In comparison, the nearby Washington House, where Stone Bal- loon and Mod Pizza are, is six stories and 65 feet tall. Lang told the City Council Mon- day night that his development group had studied what kind of shadow the hotel would cast and determined that there would be very little to no im- pact on the He said they had also revised the original plans to include tiered land- scaping that would the front of the building and help it blend in on Main Street.

Lang said the Hyatt will create more than 200 new construction jobs during its 15-month construction period. Once open, he said the Hyatt will generate several full- and part-time jobs, with an estimated annual payroll in excess of $1 million. The Hyatt will also generate another 75 new service jobs, as well as 10 new employees in re- lated capital investment companies, Lang said. Lang Development Group estimates the hotel will sell more than 40,000 room nights the number of rooms booked multiplied by the number of nights each room is reserved each year. Other economic according to Lang, include: A combined $2.4 million in addi- tional revenue for local businesses Annual city and state lodging tax in excess of $450,000 New property tax and utility reve- nue in excess of $550,000 An overall net economic gain to the city in excess of $375,000 Councilman Jason Lawhorn said a majority of residents believe a hotel on Main Street is a good thing, even if they like the scale of the new building.

think the hotel does give us a rock of stability in the face of competitive he said, voicing the fear that new development and a hotel proposed at the University of Star Campus could negatively impact the downtown, even if it does boost the economy overall. then, just the straight impact is he said. Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324- 2881 or Fol- low her on Twitter Hotel Continued from Page 1A so happy, especially when there were no calves last year when, on top of it, there have been all these said Thurman, executive director at the Marine Education, Research Reha- bilitation Institute in Lewes. This time last year, scientists and re- searchers were worried about the fate of one of the rarest whales after failing to any newborns. still concerned but are glad last trend of no newborns did not repeat.

Scientists estimate there are fewer than 500 North Atlantic right whales remaining in the wild, which is why marine enthusiasts like Thurman are rejoicing that those seven whale calves have been spotted. just great said Deb Fauquier, a veterinary medical at the National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration. also relatively good news that experts have pinpointed what killed 20 North Atlantic right whales along the coasts of Canada and the United States between since January 2017. The bad news: Most of those deaths were because of humans. More than half were caused by ves- sel strikes or rope entanglements.

No other underlying illnesses have been found, Fauquier said. important thing for the public to know, especially the boating public, is to just be aware of she said. the right whales, we are that the majority of those cases were human interaction, and both Canada and the U.S. have done mitigation to avoid those in the This is not the time humans have made things Right whales were once so heavily hunted that they faced extinction in the early 1990s. Lore is that their name came from the fact that they would after being harpooned, and there- fore were right to hunt, Thurman told The News Journal.

That may have led to the species be- ing recognized as endangered even be- fore the inception of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. While they may still be in trouble be- cause of their low numbers, no North Atlantic right whales have washed ashore since the last one was found the coast of Virginia in October 2018, Fauquier said. of those 20 whales, only three stranded in she said. optimistic numbers will stay As Fauquier discussed the good and bad news for right whales, a dead humpback the coast of North Carolina, she said. still have animals she said.

Stranding is a term used when a whale or other marine mammal washes ashore and is in need of rescue. Fauquier, who oversees un- usual mortality event program, is work- ing with her colleagues to out the causes of abnormal deaths not only among North Atlantic right whales, but also for humpback and minke whales. have declared what is called an mortality for each of those species after larger- than-normal numbers of whales stranded or dead along the East Coast. Since January 2016, 88 dead or stranded humpback whales have been found from New England to Florida. Since January 2017, 57 dead or stranded minke whales have shown up between New England and the Caroli- nas.

But no links have been found among the deaths of the three species, Fauquier said. The most recent updates from NOAA hint that human interactions also were common among the other species, but that more re- search is needed to pinpoint the main cause of those deaths. now, for the three in- vestigations, we found one spe- cause killed all three she said. not strand- ing at the same place or in the same time frame. The important thing for the public to know, especially the boating public, is to just be aware of Federal law now prohibits approach- ing a right whale closer than 500 yards.

People should never approach or touch injured or dead marine mammals to avoid injury and disease. NOAA also is investigating an un- usual mortality event for Northeast pinnipeds, the technical term for ma- rine mammals like seals. Since July 2018, 1,988 gray and harbor seals have been found stranded or dead along the Northeast coast from Maine to Vir- ginia. Most of those seals were found in Maine and Massachusetts, although there have been nine stranded seals as- sociated with Delaware, according to NOAA data. Delaware has seen its fair share of strandings that are being reported in those unusual mortality events, name- ly multi-ton dead humpback whales washing ashore.

Since 2016, the Lewes- based MERR Institute has responded to six humpback whale strandings, the most recent at Cape Henlopen State Park in December. Thurman said there have been no right whales spotted Delaware this year, but that people should report all marine mammal sightings in Delaware regardless of whether the animal is healthy or needs help to MERR by calling the 24-hour hotline at 302-228- 5029. Outside of the First State, people can also call the Greater Atlantic Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 866-755- 6622, the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 877-433-8299 or contact the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Channel 16. For more, go to www.noaa.gov.

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608, delawareonline.com or on Twitter Whales Continued from Page 1A Wilmington native Margie Mays conquered Hollywood Week on ican last Sunday night, belting out Me by English writer Sam Smith and advancing to the reality next round. The 25-year-old Tower Hill School graduate was worried after her perfor- mance, admitting on the show, was a little nervous. There was a croak in my Even so, show judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie liked what they heard and extended her run on the ABC program, in its 17th season. In a funny moment, Perry just hap- pened to sneeze right when Mays ished the ballad, closing out two- minute appearance on the two-hour episode. Mays grew up in Wilmington and went to college at Stanford University and the Los Angeles College of Music.

She now lives in Los Angeles full- time where she works as a dog walker and gives voice and piano lessons. Her parents, Chris and Alice, live in the Wilmington area. Hollywood Week continues with the Round Final Sunday night. The top 20 singers will start battling it out Monday, April 1. Armed with a quirky and outgoing personality, Mays advanced to Holly- wood Week on March 18.

During that appearance, Perry clear- ly took a liking to Mays, calling her a literally a Perry said to Mays after she singing by New York pop act Lawrence. can be exactly who you are. Just focus on winning with your voice and letting your heart shine through. already switched from in be- tween the two going from totally insane to totally Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at line.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook Twitter and Instagram Mays makes it to next round of Ryan Cormier Delaware News Journal USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey is poised to become the eighth state to allow terminally ill pa- tients to legally end their lives after a vote Monday that for years had eluded supporters of the so-called right-to-die movement.

With the Legislature narrowly ap- proving the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, the bill now goes to Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, who pledged his support. terminally ill and dying residents the dignity to make end-of- life decisions according to their own consciences is the right thing to do. I look forward to signing this legislation into Murphy said in a statement. The approval is in itself a key victory for supporters and for Demo- crats in the Legislature who have tried for years to get it passed.

The Assembly had passed it twice, in 2014 and 2016, only to see it stall in the Senate. Just before the deciding vote, Sen. Nicholas Scutari said it was one of the most consequential bills that act on in our time The bill passed each chamber with the minimum number of votes: 21 in the Senate and 41 in the Assembly. If it becomes law, terminally ill pa- tients who are mentally competent adults would be able to request and then use a prescription for lethal medi- cation. Two physicians would be required to attest that the person had less than six months to live.

The patient would have to ask for the medication three times twice orally and once in writing be- fore receiving it. The written request would have to be witnessed by two peo- ple, including one who is not a family member, a of the will or the attending physician. The patient would then be required to self-administer the medicine, if he or she decides to take it at all. The aid-in-dying bill was one of two major measures scheduled for Monday that posed a test of con- sciences. A vote on legalizing recre- ational marijuana was canceled be- cause of a lack of support in the Senate.

Proponents of assisted suicide have been pressing for the change, saying terminally ill people should have the right to end their lives without pro- longed But critics have said such a law could lead to a more permissive policy that opens up assisted suicide to other cate- gories of people. NJ approves bill allowing medically assisted suicide Dustin Racioppi Trenton Bureau USA TODAY NETWORK NEW JERSEY.