I am a full time resident of Hart's Landing located in Lewes on Route 24, and the treasurer of our homeowners association. Although I have no personal bias against campers or RV users, I strongly object to the proposed RV City on Cedar Grove Road. I feel that the site will have significant negative impacts on the county and the homeowners who enjoy the lifestyle it provides.
While I do not have the credentials to speak to the issues of the environment, I can speak to the issues of safety, traffic and finances. My greatest concern relates to the issue of safety. The county already places a great deal of stress on its medical, police and fire personnel. This is evidenced by the wait time to get to see a doctor, and the limited number of officers and fire fighters we employ, while we simultaneously encounter a significantly growing population.
Additional stress to these services, especially within such a small area, will most certainly cause a deterioration of services that are critical to the health and safety of our current residents.
Traffic on Route 1 and Route 24 is already terrible. Adding 600 exceptionally large vehicles on narrow, curved and already burdened roads will only serve to create additional back ups, increase road damageand increase traffic incidents. Neither the developers, nor DELdot, have proposed wide enough changes to Mulberry Road, Cedar Grove Road, or Route 24 coming from both the east and west, to accommodate this increased traffic.
Traffic on Route 24 past our development already backs up over two to three miles in the warm months and without lights to allow for leaving the development, it makes turning out of our development extremely difficult, time consuming and dangerous. We have already had two accidents at the entrance to our development and with this increased congestion, accidents are bound to increase.
While taxes are paid by the land owners, temporary campers will not generate the same revenues as transfer and real estate taxes would generate if the land was developed for homes. With the federal government cutting back support and states strapped, generating revenue is a critical concern. If we do not generate the maximum revenue, stress will ultimately be placed on current homeowners who have come to live here for the tax benefits.
Bottom line is that I believe the RV City will be a benefit to few, while a detriment to most all of the constituents the planning board and county council were elected to serve.
Mona Schwartz
Lewes
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