Shopping center plan sparks traffic debate
What a difference a public hearing can make.
Three weeks ago, with no opposition and little discussion, the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of rezoning a parcel along Route 9 just west of Lewes.
However, several residents spoke out against the application during county council's Dec. 12 hearing. In addition, at the insistence of Councilman George Cole, R-Ocean View, council left the record open until the end of January to receive a traffic-impact study.
The owners of Colonial East LP have plans to develop seven acres of vacant land in front of the Sussex West and Sussex East manufactured home parks along Route 9 outside Lewes. They are asking county officials to rezone the AR-1, agricultural-residential, parcel to B-1, neighborhood business district.
The conceptual plan calls for Sussex Square to have a series of buildings totaling about 50,000 square feet. Possible stores in the center would be a cafe, coffee shop, bakery, deli and farmers market, said Steve Class, a principal in Colonial East.
“Residents don't want to go out on Route 1,” Class said. “It would be low-scale, neighborhood oriented for our residents and neighbors.”
The idea took off, he said, when a survey of residents showed support for the proposal. The idea, he said, would be to provide a small shopping area for residents to walk or bicycle to.
At its Nov. 16 meeting, the commission voted unanimously to recommend county council approval.
Council voted 4-0 to leave the record open until Tuesday, Jan. 30, or until the county receives an evaluation of the developer's traffic-impact study from state transportation officials. In addition, council wanted to allow time for Councilman I.G. Burton, R-Lewes, who was absent, to listen to the audio of the hearing.
Debate over a traffic study
Traffic engineer D.J. Hughes, of Davis, Bowen and Friedel, said the developer would be required to make road improvements at the Sheffield Drive-Route 9 intersection as well as along the Route 9 road frontage, the main access to the proposed shopping area.
In addition, Hughes said, it's probable the developer will be required to contribute some funding to a proposed traffic signal at the nearby Route 9-Minos Conway intersection. “But it's DelDOT that makes that decision,” he said.
Councilman George Cole, R-Ocean View, spent a lot of time at the hearing debating with the applicant on the lack of a traffic study. The developer's attorney, David Hutt, said it would be more than a month before the study is completed.
“We base our decisions on information we receive and something is missing. Should we wait for the TIS?” Cole asked. “I have a concern moving forward without it.”
“It's rare for you to have a TIS for a change of zone,” said Sussex Planning and Zoning Director Janelle Cornwell. “Typically, a TIS is only required when a site plan is submitted.”
She said planning and zoning staff and planning and zoning commission are charged at the final site plan review process to make sure DelDOT requirements are followed by the applicant.
Hutt said the developer chose to submit a conceptual site plan in an effort to inform residents of what the project would look like. “The rub here is that you show people what would be there, and it triggers a TIS,” Hutt said.
Concerns with more traffic
Some residents are concerned about new traffic in the area.
“What happens to my quiet community that they said I should move here for?” asked Sussex West resident Judith Rosen. “That's what was advertised – come live at the beach. Now I fear for my life getting out of my driveway.”
She said adding more traffic would make matters worse. “People ignore stop signs and speed limits, and I live right there on the speedway,” she said, referring to her home near the proposed commercial parcel.
John Murray, who lives in the nearby Mills Chase community along Minos Conway Road, said he's concerned with safety. “It can't support additional traffic,” he said.
He said over the past two years the road has become a short cut between Route 9 and Route 1 for motorists to get around Five Points.
James Labella, who lives in the Red Mill Pond community, said the council needs to look at the bigger picture of development along Route 9 from Sweetbriar Road to Five Points.
“How much more can that road absorb?” he asked. “It will be like Route 1 and Route 24. You have to consider what's already in place, which is a lot, and what is coming down the pike, which is a lot. Can the road handle this additional capacity?”
About Sussex East, Sussex West
• Started in the early 1980s
• 350 lots
• 96 percent of homes are occupied by those 55 and older
• 80 percent of the residents live there year around
• Average age of residents is mid- to upper-70s
