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A decision is pending before the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission on a request to subdivide a 261-acre parcel near Huff and Sand Hill roads near Georgetown to allow for construction of a 397-home community. The planning panel at a Thursday, July 10 public hearing, deferred action on the subdivision application filed by Anthony Sposato. The request is on the commission’s 6 p.m., Thursday, July 24 agenda. The panel meets in Sussex Council chambers.
The parcel is in an agricultural-residential district (AR-1) in the Georgetown Hundred.
Tom Bartosiewicz, an engineer with Milton-based Meridian Consulting Engineers, described features of the cluster subdivision and changes that were made since submission of the original plan. He said the development initially called for 400 home lots, but the number was reduced after removing some cul de sac streets and the sidewalk on one side of the community. The parcel is in a state-designated Investment Level 4 area. In level 4 areas the state supports agricultural preservation, natural resources protection and continuation of the rural nature of such areas. In its 2006 Preliminary Land Use Survey (PLUS) review of the plans, the Office of State Planning Coordination said the state opposes the development because it’s inconsistent with state strategies and policies. The PLUS review said as proposed, the project exceeds the limit of Sussex County’s comprehensive plan low-density requirements.
“The project as proposed is likely to bring 1,000 new residents to an area where the state has no plans to invest in infrastructure upgrades or additional services,” the review states.
Bartosiewicz said the community would feature 10,000-square-foot single-family home lots and private streets. He said the Artesian Water Company would handle water and wastewater. Bartosiewicz said about 113 acres of woodlands on the site would not be disturbed and 42 percent of the development would be open space.
The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is recommending that the developer install a traffic signal at the intersection of Sand Hill Road and Route 9. Attorney Dennis Schrader, representing Sposato, said DelDOT’s request doesn’t make sense because the intersection already has a traffic signal.
“It’s Route 9 DelDOT is seeking to control,” Schrader said.
DelDOT is also asking the developer to construct more than two miles of roadway improvements, from Dutton Ditch to the development’s Huff Road entry point. Sposato, owner of Sposato Landscape Company Inc., said his family has owned the land for more than 40 years. He said the family envisions a high-quality community. “Curb appeal is very big with us. As you know, we are a landscape contractor. We want to make it nice and put the Sposato stamp on it,” he said.
Community amenities would include a swimming pool, pool house and baseball fields.
Bonnie Pride-Steele, a Huff Road homeowner, was the lone voice of opposition.“Will my well be infiltrated with wastewater? Will there be monitoring wells?” Schrader said engineering plans had changed since Pride-Steele had last seen them and wastewater would not be treated or disposed of on-site.
Pride-Steele said because of its cluster design the development is too large and the Sposatos are being greedy.
“No one wants to live near 300 homes. The fields around me are full of deer. Where are they going to go?” Pride-Steele asked.
“We’re sorry that we’re building there but it is our privilege. I don’t think my client is greedy, and I don’t know where the deer are going to go,” Schrader responded.
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