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Barefootin’ interview raises many questions

December 1, 2016

This letter is in direct response to statements in Mr. Forney's Barefootin' column in the Nov. 25 edition of the Cape Gazette.

I was a little taken back that "There will be more than 2,000 homes along that corridor," referring to Lingo's master plan for Gills Neck Road, not to be confused with the Scenic Highway concept of this corridor. It appears that Mr. Lingo has had this vision for many years. It is interesting that he does not share it with the residents on the Gills Neck corridor.

As for his conference table books, may I point out that we are not urban. Many of us moved here because Lewes is not urban. My husband and I lived for over 13 years in Reston, Va. When we bought there, we knew we were buying into a planned community. Why weren't the Lingo grand plans shown to us when we bought into Senators? Surely, if Mr. Lingo has had this plan for so long, and it is so great for us, why wasn't it shared?

Regarding his connectable, walkable concept, why is there no connectivity between Wolfe Pointe, Wolfe Neck and Hawkseye, and only a walkway from Hawkseye to Senators? If these were all Lingo-created communities, why wasn't the plan implemented when they were developed? Could it be the residents did not want connecting roads or bike paths going through their neighborhoods?

Mr. Lingo may not be reinventing the wheel, but my perception is he is creating a semi-tractor trailer wheel for a bicycle. So what if it's too big; just build a bigger bicycle.

If I were Mr. Lingo, I would not brag about the $2 million they paid for road improvements. Within the first several weeks of the "completion" of the improved intersection at Gills Neck and Kings Highway, the sign in the median was knocked down twice. The right turn from Kings Highway to Gills Neck is so sharp, the perception is that Lingo did not want to take up more land than necessary. Obviously traffic engineers did not design it. Don't tell me that DelDOT will come back and fix it... I was taught that you plan ahead and do things right the first time.

He completely lost me when he said, "And the high school is a blessing. It generates traffic..." And this traffic is a blessing to whom? I am not sure of Mr. Lingo's use of the term seasonal traffic. Traffic is heavy year round with higher and lower periods. Higher and lower than what, I am not sure, but it's not seasonal anymore.

We are reminded again how great the Rehoboth Gateway is and how the residents in the "more than 2,000 homes" thank Mr. Lingo all the time for putting it there. It is a good place for it – fronting on Route 1, accessible to tourists as well as those of us in Lewes. Those stores could not survive without Route 1 traffic.

We have Lloyd's and Weis at Five Points, so we don't have to go on Route 1, but we do it anyway because it's what we want.

If anyone thinks village centers will cut down on traffic, they are not in the real world. I have not read any study that says 2,000 homes can support a grocery store much larger than Lloyd's, especially when a number of those homes are second or vacation homes. To attract the stores that some of my neighbors desire, the business has to come from elsewhere. This means more traffic. Kings Highway will be Route 1, extended.

I am not totally against development of this property. However, I am somewhat suspicious of Lingo's approach. If the shopping center is "a completely and totally responsible development":

• Submit the final site plan
• Request a variance rather than rezoning
• Openly discuss their master plan of Gills Neck with the Gills Neck communities
• Don't tell us what we need and/or want
• Be a real planner and stop the piecemeal development.

The "if it's approved, we will prove it" statement reminds me of Congress when they vote on certain legislation. We don't need to read it. We just have to pass it. Trust us.

Susan Crawford
Lewes

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