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Truitt Farm assisted living facility is approved

Residents contemplate appeal of board of adjustment decision
February 22, 2017

Story Location:
Shuttle Road
Rehoboth Beach, DE
United States

An assisted living facility near Rehoboth Beach has been given approval by the Sussex County Board of Adjustment.

But there may be more to come. A group of residents opposed to the project are contemplating filing an appeal with Superior Court.

The vote takes place 10 days after residents took to the streets to highlight their opposition to the assisted living facility.

“Many are disillusioned, but we plan to press on,” said resident Tony Latina. “It's inconceivable the board didn't reopen the record. A few have even talked about filing suit against the board but I'm not sure of that strategy.”

A petition from the residents to reopen the public record was never acknowledged or voted on by the board.

At its Feb. 20 meeting, the board voted 3-0 to grant a special-use exception to James Truitt Farm LLC for a three-story, 88-unit assisted living facility along Shuttle Road across from the DART park-and-ride property. The 2-acre facility is Phase 2 of an ongoing aging-in-place community on a 23-acre parcel, once the home of a par-3 golf course.

On Nov. 17, 2015, Sussex County Council approved a conditional-use application for 90 single-family condominiums on the medium-density zoned parcel. Site work for Phase 1 is well underway.

Residents said increased traffic and noise, and negative impact on adjacent property values were valid reasons for the board to reject the application.

The board did not agree.

Making the motion, board member Jeff Hudson said the parcel is in a county growth zone where the state also supports development. He said an assisted living facility is a permitted use with a special use on MR-zoned land.

Hudson said he was not convinced that the opponents' concerns with traffic impact were warranted. He said the developer will have to comply with DelDOT regulations as part of the site-plan review. In addition, he said shuttle service will be provided from the facility. “That should all help to minimize the traffic impact on Shuttle Road,” Hudson said. “Their arguments were not convincing that this project would have an adverse impact on traffic in the area.”

He also said no expert testimony was presented showing the facility would have a negative impact on surrounding property values.

Board members Hudson, John Mills and E. Brent Workman voted in favor of the application. Board Chairman Dale Callaway and member Norman “Bud” Rickard were absent from the meeting.

Residents asked the board to allow time for another hearing because the original hearing took place a few days before the busy Christmas holiday period.

In addition, residents said public notice of the application was minimal, and residents of affected nearby communities were not given proper notice. Many said they were not aware of the subject of the application.

Board attorney Jamie Sharp said the board had the authority to reopen the public record, but taking that action was rare.

Jim Fuqua, attorney for the applicant, said conducting hearings in the middle of December has been common practice for more than four decades. “The hearing was properly advertised and people could have commented at the hearing or sent emails or letters,” he said. “The record has been made, and to treat this application any differently than the more than 11,000 other applications over the past 47 years would be unfair to my client.”

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