Alliance appeals Sussex County’s Belle Mead zoning change
An appeal was filed Jan. 12 challenging Sussex County Council’s Dec. 16 approval of the Belle Mead zoning change request for a proposed development with 344 multifamily residential units along with commercial space off Route 24.
The request for judicial review of the decision was filed by the Route 24 Alliance Inc., Judy Rose Seibert and Steve Selway. It contends that the county vote was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.”
The project includes 72,000 square feet of commercial space on 39 acres of farmland and wooded forest on the east side of Route 24, known locally as John J. Williams Highway.
Plans for the property near Rehoboth Beach include five commercial buildings, four mixed residential/commercial buildings and seven multistory apartment buildings.
“The project does not promote, but would degrade, the health, safety, welfare and convenience of Sussex County residents,” according to the 10-page document filed in Superior Court.
The petitioners argue that council members should have been aware of the issues following lengthy public hearings at which many residents raised concerns.
“The record includes multiple public comments in opposition to the proposed project, and documents, reports, studies and analyses that clearly demonstrate that the relevant area lacks the capacity and infrastructure such project will require,” the document says.
Sussex County officials declined to comment Jan. 12 on the appeal.
“The county does not comment on pending or active litigation,” says an emailed reply from the county.
“Certain comments by council members make clear that their rationale for approving the ordinance misunderstood several crucial data points, including without limitation the amount of additional traffic that will result from the project as well as the timing of the highway improvements needed to service such additional traffic,” according to the appeal.
The appeal asks the court to review Sussex County Council’s 3-2 decision.
The Route 24 Alliance is a nonprofit corporation formed and funded by some county residents who state that they will “sustain injury resulting from the proposed project’s detrimental traffic, congestion, environmental and safety impacts.”
The homes of Seibert and Selway are less than a mile from the site.
The organization has been vocal in challenging other proposed developments in and around the Route 24 corridor.
The appeal notes that the Cape Henlopen School District had informed the county that district schools are already at or near capacity, and the development could make it more difficult to educate students.
For more than a year, the district has urged the county not to approve large new housing projects unless it first initiates an impact fee to fund school expansion to accommodate additional students.
The appeal took issue with statements some council members made prior to the Dec. 16 vote to approve the Belle Mead project.
“At this meeting, each member of the council spoke in reference to the project,” says the court document. “Certain statements by council members at this meeting make clear both that they misunderstood and failed to account for detrimental public impacts that will result from the project.”
The appeal takes issue with traffic projections and statements by some council members that state road improvements would keep pace with construction and accommodate additional vehicles.
County code requires a C-4 district to be “served by adequate existing or planned infrastructure,” the appeal notes.
It also raises questions about interconnectivity with adjacent properties, drainage, flooding, public safety and environmental harm.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
