Belle Mead’s rezoning application for change from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to C-4, planned commercial district, is on the Sussex County Council agenda for Dec 16. It will be the first request for C-4 zoning status in the county, so council members will be setting precedent for future requests for C-4.
Belle Mead does not comply with two of the minimum district requirements for C-4, planned commercial districts:
- "The land area shall be served by adequate existing or planned infrastructure.” Route 24 and the Love Creek Bridge have no set date to begin construction for dualization, according to DelDOT. Project development is slated to begin in Fiscal Year 2029 with federal funds. The two-lane portion of Route 24 and the Love Creek Bridge are currently at or near road capacity. Belle Mead's application estimates development completion as 2032. Infrastructure capacity projects that do not yet even have an estimated start date cannot be counted as planned infrastructure.
- “Interconnectivity with adjacent parcels shall be required.” This parcel is situated next to Beacon Middle School, as well as residential communities where interconnectivity is not possible; therefore it is not an appropriate site for a C-4 district according to the zoning code.
Cape Henlopen School District has requested that no new residential developments be approved until a school impact fee is approved and is collecting funds, and it has questioned whether this commercial area would impact safe school operations.
The traffic impact study for Belle Mead has revealed that several subdivisions will have extraordinarily long wait times to turn onto Route 24. Hart's Landing will have over a nine-minute wait to turn right onto Route 24 on a summer Saturday and an over eight-minute wait to turn right during the Monday through Friday afternoon/evening rush hour.
Belle Mead proposes to remove 5 acres of mature forest, which DNREC identified as a key wildlife habitat in the Delaware Wildlife Action Plan, and said that removing any forested areas should be avoided to the greatest extent possible. This forest is at the headwaters of Dorman Branch of Love Creek, and serves as green infrastructure to absorb rainwater and reduce flooding.
How will Sussex County Council members vote on Belle Mead’s rezoning application? Can they vote to approve it when it does not meet Sussex zoning code?
-
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 viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.
