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Residents of seven Lewes communities to hold rally opposing RV City ahead of Aug. 22 P&Z vote

August 19, 2013

Concerned residents from Lewes will hold a rally and press conference Thursday, Aug. 22, to voice their opposition to the proposed Love Creek RV Resort and Campground in advance of a crucial vote by the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission.

The event, to begin at 5 p.m., will take place at the Georgetown Circle island across the street from the Sussex County Council Chambers. At 5:30 p.m., rally participants will move to the county chambers for the planners' meeting. Members of the commission are expected to vote on zoning changes that could pave the way for the new development.

More than 100 opponents of the RV City are expected to attend the rally and meeting from seven communities threatened by the development: The Retreat at Love Creek, Harts Landing, Briarwood Estates, Webb’s Landing, Plantations East, Bayfront and Ward Road.

Opposition to the project has been mounting since developer Jack Lingo Asset Management unveiled the venture last December. The project calls for a 162-acre development that could attract as many as 3,000 seasonal visitors to 628 lots designed for RVs, rental cabins and tents. Plans submitted by the developer also call for a number of amenities to be built that current residents claim will create a noisy, theme park atmosphere: an amphitheater, dock and dockside bar, multiple swimming pools, ball fields and paddleboat launches.

Local residents have expressed concern that the development will create unprecedented traffic congestion, overwhelm local infrastructure, destroy the area’s fragile environment and produce less economic benefit to the county than a single-family home development.

“Since day one, we’ve stated that this project is an ill-conceived idea that will drop an RV city in the middle of a quiet suburban area,” said Paul Hammesfahr, president of The Retreat at Love Creek Homeowners Association. “Now it’s time for the Sussex Planning & Zoning Commission to recognize the will of the people and make the only sensible decision to stop this project.”

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