There is a proposed C-4 commercial planned district up for its Sussex County Council hearing Tuesday, July 22. There are advantages of a C-4 development – shops and residences all on one site, allowing people to walk from their homes to many businesses – however, the Love Creek Farm (formerly Belle Mead) is not an appropriate site for a C-4 project.
No wonder so many of the comments on the land-use docket for the project are about traffic! The two-lane section of Route 24 from Lexington Avenue to south of Love Creek Bridge is already at or over capacity. The DelDOT vehicle volume summary lists the annual average daily traffic on Route 24 from Plantation Road to south of Love Creek Bridge as 15,747. The current Highway Capacity Manual gives a range of 11,900 to 15,900 AADT with a level of service of D along two-lane streets with signals.
Why didn’t DelDOT report this when the traffic impact study was done for Belle Mead? Whose job is it to report this to Sussex County Council and Sussex P&Z? DelDOT has no Capital Transportation Program projects planned to dualize that portion of Route 24 or the Love Creek Bridge.
The request should be denied; it would violate these sections of county code:
- 115-83.25B – Adequate existing or planned infrastructure required for a C-4. The road capacity of the two-lane section of Route 24 and the Love Creek Bridge would be exceeded by this project; Cape Henlopen School District has requested no new residential developments until a school impact fee is in place; the Lewes Fire Department has stated it may have to cut back EMS services without additional funding
- 115-83.24 – Protecting existing and future developments. Turning onto Route24 from homes, small businesses and subdivisions will be increasingly dangerous
- 115-220B(16) – Interconnectivity to parcels as specified in 115-219-A (5) and (6).The stretch of Route 24 from Mulberry Knoll Road to Love Creek is mostly residential, with two schools and some small commercial enterprises, mostly in former homes. Sussex P&Z recommended just one area of interconnectivity, whereas code requires interconnectivity with other existing or future commercial parcels. This is just not the right place for a C-4 project.
Go to https://tinyurl.com/DEBelleMead for more reasons to deny the request. Leave a comment for Sussex County Council on the land-use docket before Monday, July 21.
-
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.
