The conditional-use application that would allow a Royal Farms gas station/convenience store on the southeast corner of Angola Road and Route 24 should not be under consideration at this time. In my opinion, the fact that it is on the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission's agenda at this time is disturbing.
Early in 2016, residents of the Bay Ridge Woods development addressed Sussex P&Z regarding their concern with potential traffic impact caused by the proposed 314 single-family homes at Middle Creek Preserve development off of Angola Road within three-quarters of a mile from its intersection with Route 24.
To address our concerns, P&Z requested that DelDOT order a traffic study to be conducted in the Angola Neck area. The results of that study concluded that level of service at the Angola Road/Route 24 intersection would not be affected by the new development since that intersection was part of the state’s Hazard Elimination Program with a scheduled date for construction to begin in FY21.
We requested that the commission require roadwork improvements to be completed prior to actual development construction, which included the clear-cutting of 51 of 97 forested acres that had been mapped as a key wildlife habitat in the Delaware Wildlife Act Plan. This request was ignored and the development plan was approved to move forward Dec. 22, 2016.
Unfortunately, that intersection road work has never even started. The subject intersection has since been inundated by the additional traffic created by residents and contractors from the thousands of new homes that have been approved in the area since 2016. Cross traffic feeds into this intersection to gain access to Route 24, a major east-west connector in mid Sussex County.
If P&Z bases its decisions on planning inputs from other agencies, it needs better visibility into the status of those plans. Such software tools to track the progress of work identified in association with previous development may be available and should be utilized. Required roadwork, sewer work, etc., which has not been competed should cause subsequent development approvals to be put on hold or the issuance of building permits should be withheld until the work promised in the final approval documents is completed.
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