The attorney for the Sussex County Board of Adjustment was quoted in the Cape Gazette as saying the board can reopen a record in a case, but that such actions are "rare." The circumstances surrounding the application for a large hi-rise assisted living facility in the middle of a residential community off Shuttle Road near Route 1 justify that "rare" action in this case.
The nearby community residents who submitted the request made a strong argument for reopening this record when they recited that the only hearing the board had was Dec. 19, four days before a four-day Christmas weekend, and after only a bare-minimal effort by the developers to provide public notice to immediately adjacent neighbors, and not to other nearby communities that would be affected.
Everybody who has to use Shuttle Road to exit on Route 1 or to enter to even get into the new Fresh Market is aware of the growing traffic gridlock at that intersection. The introduction of a large assisted living facility, with all the resident and staff traffic such an institution will bring with it, can result in "substantial adverse use" (to use the legal standard the Board of Adjustment is charged with reviewing) to the neighboring community.
The question shouldn't be whether the board should open the record to hear from the community. The question is why wouldn't they.
Coleen Collins
Rehoboth Beach
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