After learning that the county council president will make his decision as to which way he will vote on the proposed 320 unit RV park at the end of Long Neck Road - better know as Massey’s Landing - and in the near future county council will be voting casting their vote on the proposed RV park. If a dreadful approval for the plan is cast the residents of Massey’s Landing park lives will be changed forever in a catastrophic way along with the surrounding home parks.
The homes in this park are mostly unmovable due to structure and the cost to move, making this not an option if one does not want to deal with activity of an RV park and camping grounds, general store and who knows what else. This proposal, if passed, would rank with the disastrous result of hurricane Sandy Long Neck Road is the only means of evacuation for the Long Neck peninsula; it is also a dead end road. At the dead end is a state operated boat launch, fishing and parking areas; this boat launch is also the departing point for emergency marine rescue for Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay. This parking has overflowed onto Long Neck Road several times last summer.
Due to the elevation of Long Neck Road the roadway is subject to flooding on a full moon and a high tide, making the road impassable. There are several communities that also have the same common problem of flooding. We do not need a storm to close the road.
A traffic study was completed last summer; however the traffic counter was placed half way down Long Neck Road, eliminating many single businesses, business centers, home parks, town home developments, apartment complexes, high end single family homes and also three parks that now rent RV sites. I would like to add that in the spring I believe of 2013 county council, along with the approval from planing and zoning, approved a plan for Rehoboth Shores manufactured home park to convert 160 remaining home sites to 320 RV sites which to date I don’t believe has even started. This makes one think that the additional RV sites are not needed and there is no way this project of 320 sites was considered in the traffic study as it was not built.
Traveling Long Neck Road can be a nightmare with traffic back-ups occurring at the intersection of Route 24 and School Lane with commercial building now going on at the Route 24 intersection backups will only become more frequent. I also remember that some time ago county council once again approved a small strip store center just a short ways down from the Route 24 intersection on Long Neck Road. Another large problem is the installation of turning lanes which eliminates the road shoulder area completely, making the roadway dangerous to all non vehicle users.
If the proposed 320-site park is approved if only one third of that number needs to use the boat launch area that will add 100 vehicles to the total of present users with the boat launch parking lot now overflowing at times. Where do you think these people will park? Back at the RV site? I don’t think so; they will park where it is most convenient, along the shoulder, making the road even more dangerous. As noted in the Cape Gazette there has been an increase in the number of break-ins in the Long Neck area, again increasing the danger to area residents. Having strangers traversing thru are neighborhoods is not acceptable as not all neighborhoods have 24/7 security as Pot-Nets parks.
I have read that at an upcoming meeting of county council they will be discussing changes to the planning and zoning departments, with the impact this department makes on the area residents like the Massey’s Landing park, the Love Creek park and the conversion of a pickle plant to a chicken processing plant. Only certified persons should be in the planing and zoning department, not hand-picked by county council. The Vineyards at Nassau are an example of the present department - buildings have been allowed over the 42-foot height restriction. County council should not make decisions on projects mentioned above without an analysis of a certified professional department.
Our county has grown at a tremendous rate out pacing infrastructure and roads allowing this to continue unchecked will endanger the lives of all residents. As a last note the Massey’s Landing proposed RV park is one of the last remaining natural areas in the Long Neck area, thus needs to be protected for our generation and future generations. Once destroyed, there is no bringing it back.
Lewis Newman
Long Neck
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
