When will my property rights be respected? For a long time now, I’ve heard that the property rights of farmers have to be considered by the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission, as their properties are their retirements. But what about my property rights? Is a quarter-acre too small to matter? My community has 270 acres with 928 lots. The number of people on those lots totals in the thousands. But we don’t matter. Our land has already been developed, with monies made by everyone. A 270-acre farm, now that would matter.
This is not to demean farmers; we need them, and they contribute to making our county what it is today. The current way of doing business – develop first, infrastructure later, if at all – is not their fault. We need our county council to get their collective heads out of the sand and look at what’s happening all over Sussex County, especially eastern Sussex. We’ve been doing things backwards here for years, and look what we have: New roads and schools are obsolete before they’re finished!
With most surrounding farmlands sold and developed on Angola Road, our quality of life has lessened. Getting out of my community is more dangerous. The backup to Route 24 is often 20 cars deep. The road is barely wide enough for cars, let alone large trucks. We have no shoulders; bikers are crazy to venture out to Angola Road. If the perfect storm were to hit, we will never be able to evacuate.
We need an adequate public facilities ordinance now, just like they have in Kent and New Castle counties. It would give the county a tool to manage growth, to provide for infrastructure to support new development. Just look around at the mess we have, and heaven help you if you need a first responder to save your home or life on a busy summer’s day, or almost on any day. Traffic is outrageous.
Residents are getting angrier because our little pieces of heaven don’t matter, even though we pay our taxes, contribute to the economy and workforce. We are teachers, nurses, tradespeople, first responders. And we don’t matter. We are retired folks, too, and we had to plan for our retirements. I don’t remember anyone saying we have to make sure our new retirees get a fair shake. Are our county leaders looking to protect our 401Ks? I don’t think so.
Farmers deserve every cent they can make from their properties, but not at the expense of my way of life, the value of my quarter-acre! An adequate public facilities ordinance would go a long way to leveling the playing field.
Collectively, many of us with our little quarter-acre properties are getting sick and tired of being ignored by the powers that be. As important as our property rights are, our lives are even more important. Our roads are getting more dangerous; I fear we will see road rage here soon. Please start listening to us.
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