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People urged to attend New Road meeting Dec. 14

December 7, 2017

There is an important public information meeting Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m., in the meeting room of the Margaret H. Rollins Center in Lewes (formerly the Lewes Public Library) at 101 Adams Ave., Lewes. The Greater Lewes Civic Coalition is participating in this meeting which will include presentations from experts on open space preservation, history, archeology and science with relevant knowledge to help the community understand the present condition of the vital New Road corridor and the potential effects of further development along it.

The New Road Preservation Alliance, of which I am a member, is a group that was formed this fall to inform and organize citizens who are concerned about the impending development of this area, which is adjacent to the Great Marsh Preserve. We will be participating in the meeting and presenting information we have gathered about the recently sold Groome United Methodist parcel and contiguous parcels. We are very concerned that our natural resources, open space, and agricultural lands are fast disappearing, and that the sale of this land to a developer will have a huge impact on Lewes.

In an effort to encourage Groome Methodist Church to reverse its decision to sell its property on New Road for development, and instead sell it for conservation, the New Road Preservation Alliance has been collecting signatures at various Lewes locations. We quickly gathered a thousand signatures. The signed petitions were sent to both the Groome Methodist Church in Lewes and to the Bishop of the Philadelphia Area of the United Methodist Church to make sure the church entities were aware of our concerns.

While collecting petition signatures, the overwhelming majority of local citizens we met were opposed to the development of the New Road corridor. It also became apparent that some members of the community were not as aware of the enormous significance of preserving both the Great Marsh and its buffer parcels, including the 135-acre buffer property owned by Groome Church. This meeting will be a great opportunity for interested citizens to learn more and find out how they can get involved.

Please attend this important meeting about the future of the New Road corridor. We must join together to try and protect these lands before they are developed.

Debra Evalds
Lewes
Member, New Road Preservation Alliance

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