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Commission questions DelDOT’s Overbrook deal

Developer seeks to build as many as 175 lots before overpass is completed
April 19, 2019

Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commissioners are questioning the number of units permitted to be built in two Overbrook Meadows housing projects before completion of an interchange at the Cave Neck Road-Route 1 intersection allowing access to the communities.

Delaware Department of Transportation officials are requiring Overbrook Real Estate Partners LLC, developer of the approved Overbrook Meadows and proposed Overbrook Meadows West, to contribute to the cost of the interchange based on traffic expected to be generated by more than 230 proposed homes on the 114-acre parcel. Because the parcel falls within the state's Route 1 Corridor Capacity Preservation Program, access to Route 1 is restricted without DelDOT-mandated improvements.

DelDOT officials said if a deal can be worked out with the developer, the start date of construction of the overpass could be advanced.

Already preliminarily approved is Overbrook Meadows, a 135-lot single-family cluster subdivision in the rear section of the 114-acre parcel on the east side of Route 1. Overbrook Meadows West, Phase 2 of the project, offering 82 single-family lots on 43 acres, is proposed for the section of the parcel along Route 1.

 

Wheatley: Overpass should be built first

During an April 11 public hearing, commissioners said a limit of 20 units and 200 vehicle trips per day was placed on approval of Phase 1, and it carries over to Phase 2. Now, DelDOT officials have acknowledged that negotiations with the developer have resulted in a possible increase in the number of units that could be built before the overpass is completed.

Marc Cote, DelDOT's assistant planning director, said negotiations are moving forward with the developer to determine how many units will be allowed – with temporary access to Route 1 – before interchange completion. “But there is no number yet,” he said.

Recent DelDOT correspondence acquired by the grassroots group Sussex Alliance for Responsible Growth, shows that number could be as high as 175 units.

Assistant county attorney Vince Robertson said the original number of 20 units was on record and now it's changed. “It seems you are dancing around it,” he said.

Robertson asked why DelDOT could not purchase or rent the land to keep the project moving.

He said the planning and zoning commission relied on the 20-unit limit as it ruled on the application. “Now it has changed. What will change next?” he asked.

Jim Fuqua, the developer’s attorney, said the number of units is not limited if the developer enters into a partnership with DelDOT, which, he said, is being negotiated.

“Every subdivision the last two decades, you have deferred to DelDOT for road improvements and entrances, and now you are picking on my client on something not covered in code and that has not been done in the past,” he said.

“They are doing this backwards. They should build the overpass first,” said Commission Chairman Bob Wheatley.

Wheatley said he was not sure the commission understood the limit of 20 units could be amended.

“We are in a difficult position where DelDOT is saying trust us to do what we say we are going to do. That doesn't always happen that way – things change,” he said, noting DelDOT is working more closely with council.

“But we have to keep the pressure on to make sure projects happen when they say they will,” Wheatley added.

Jeff Stone, a resident of nearby Oyster Rocks subdivision, said documentation he received from DelDOT places the number at 175 units, or about 75 percent of the total number of both phases that could be constructed before or during construction of the overpass.

Commissioner Kim Hoey Stevenson said that during the public hearing on Phase 1, the commission was told no more than 20 units could be constructed before completion of the overpass. She said she was concerned about safe vehicle access from the site. “It was not safe before the 200 trips, why is it safe now?” she asked.

“What can we do?” asked Hoey Stevenson. She said possible options could include limiting the number of housing units, holding back building permits until the overpass is built or denying the application outright because of traffic issues.

“I'm really concerned about safe access from this parcel,” she said. “They could build all of this and still not have an overpass and safe access to the highway.”

 

Developer, DelDOT working on deal

Fuqua said the developer and DelDOT officials are working on a memorandum of understanding that would include a cash contribution to the interchange project and a land contribution of approximately six acres of land for right of way along Route 1. He said the contribution could be in the area of $3 million – $2 million for the overpass and $1 million for the value of the right-of-way land to build the interchange.

He said a proposed temporary access road to the parcel would eventually be removed. “It's all been agreed to in principle,” he said, adding the memorandum could be signed within the next few weeks.

“The developer's significant contribution of money and land would help speed up construction,” he said.

DelDOT officials agreed the developer's contribution could speed up the start of construction, which is slated to begin in fiscal year 2024 in DelDOT's capital plan. It's one of three grade-separated interchange projects planned for Route 1 in the Cape Region.

Fuqua said the same condition relating to the interchange approved by the commission on Phase 1 is requested for Phase 2. He said it stated that the developer would comply with DelDOT requirements and contribute funding to the interchange.

Hudson Management, developer of the proposed Chappell Farm project on the northwestern side of the Route 1-Cave Neck Road intersection, would also be required to pay a portion of the cost of road work for the interchange and dedicate road frontage. That project – 156 residential units and 45,000 square feet of retail space – has been reviewed by state planners and agencies but has not surfaced on a Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission agenda.

 

Temporary access to Route 1

Under a proposed DelDOT plan, a temporary road with access to Route 1 would be provided from the northern section of the parcel. Motorists going south on Route 1 from the parcel would first head north on Route 1 and then make a U-turn onto the southbound lanes.

Cote said before any plans are finalized on a temporary access, DelDOT officials would ensure it was sized properly with safety as a top priority.

Stone, the Oyster Rocks resident, said Route 1 would then have to absorb another 1,500 trips per day with motorists heading south forced to make a dangerous U-turn. “What standard was applied to make this calculation? Where is it embodied in statute or regulation? When and how did Sussex County say this was OK?” Stone asked.

Stone said no traffic conditions – including the number of 200 vehicle trips acknowledged by the developer and DelDOT – are included in the commission's conditions approval of Phase 1 of the project. “Some might question why?” he asked.

He said the county government's apparent lack of involvement in the process and the constantly changing numbers make it impossible to understand exactly what is being approved. “What number can the public believe? What number will the commission utilize in considering this application, if any?” he asked.

He also questioned how pending and current development within the area was considered, which would generate even more traffic.

The commission deferred a vote to a future meeting. Subdivision applications are not subject to Sussex County Council public hearings.

 

About Overbrook Meadows West

Overbrook Meadows West, a cluster subdivision, would be set back 400 feet from Route 1. Fuqua said the frontage could be a stormwater management area or used for future development.

He said the average lot size would be 8,800 square feet with curbs, gutters and sidewalks on both sides of all subdivision streets. Amenities would include a pool, deck and clubhouse to be built prior to the 41st certificate of occupancy. The development would have central water and sewer.

He said all lot lines would be at least 200 feet from farmland and agricultural buffers would separate the community from neighboring farms.

 

 

 

 

 

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