It is obvious that most Rehoboth Beach area residents want Clear Space Theatre to remain in town. We understand the importance of live theater in the beautiful place we call home, and the benefits Clear Space brings are obvious. What may not be as obvious, and what many people seem to want to ignore, is the proposed location of Clear Space’s new home, and how it may negatively impact our town. All who sing Clear Space’s praises - myself included - must be forward-thinking and recognize the fact that Clear Space selected three lots on Rehoboth Avenue at the circle, and plans to build a nearly (combined) 25,000- square-foot theater complex at a location that has inherent problems regarding traffic, parking, pedestrian safety, and proximity to residential homes.
Whether you live in the city or not, you know just how dangerous the traffic circle can be at certain times of the day, so as a community, I suggest we be proactive, not reactive in addressing and solving these problems. Of all the letters in the Cape Gazette and written to various city and planning commissioners describing the benefits of Clear Space, hardly any of them address how to solve the problems with their chosen location. Clear Space has bounced from the planning commission to the mayor and city commissions, and now back to the planning commission over the past two years, and we still do not have a plan on how to solve the existing problems.
I ask the supporters of Clear Space to not only write about the importance of live theater at the beach, but also write about ways to make Clear Space’s proposed location a safer place for our residents and visitors. If you want to help, provide solutions to the problem.
Maybe someone out there can shed some light on the problem, and provide answers we have been eagerly awaiting.
I request that the planning commission ask tough questions to uncover problems and discover ways to address any major concerns before approving this project. Conditions must be set and this will not happen in just one or two meetings. If not, when they build it, people will come, and then what will you do about the parking, pedestrian safety and traffic?
If you want to look to the future, then anticipate and solve the problems now. I have attended all the Clear Space meetings for two years and keep hearing the same safety concerns batted around and still we have no concrete answers. We can’t just kick the can down the road for another set of commissioners to solve later. Before this plan is approved, it is the responsibility of the planning commission to ensure the citizens that our concerns have been properly addressed and solved. Otherwise, this will cause a negative impact to the city, its residents, and the tourists for many years to come.
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