Sussex County Council will meet Nov. 4, to consider whether to change existing law to allow a developer to build Cool Spring Crossing on Route 9 between Georgetown and Lewes. It would be the fourth-largest city in Sussex County.
Under the comprehensive plan of 2018 and the accompanying future land-use map, the area is designated AR-1, which allows agricultural and limited residential use only. The county has amended the FLUM several times, but only to correct technical errors and to allow a few small projects averaging 20 acres, not for a 637-acre monster project like Cool Spring Crossing.
The state Office of Planning Coordination has firmly rejected the development four times, pointing out the site is in state investment Level 4, agricultural preservation, a rural area whose existing infrastructure is unprepared for additional growth.
Yet the developer has repeatedly brushed aside the inconvenience of county law and state rejection, and proceeded with plans to raze 104 acres of forest and build 1,922 residential units on the northeast side of Route 9 and Hudson Road. The projected population will be more than 5,000 – larger than Milton (3,575), Lewes (3,533) and Selbyville (3,093).
The density and scope of this development will triple traffic on Route 9 into a nightmare scenario, adding at least 32,957 vehicle trips per day, according to DelDOT.
Other Sussex infrastructure, already stretched to the breaking point, will suffer. The county is currently a medically underserved area, with shortages of general practitioners, dentists, mental health specialists, cardiologists, dermatologists and others. Many of our schools are filled to capacity. Our fire departments will struggle. Whenever we drive, try to schedule doctors’ appointments, and watch our fields and forests disappear, we will feel the frustration.
This is not a matter of slamming shut the gate once we ourselves are situated here; it’s a matter of where and how we locate newcomers, and when our infrastructure can accommodate them in order that we all enjoy basic quality of life. After we’ve carefully planned our future, as we did in the 2018 comprehensive plan, our county leaders should not toss that plan over their shoulders when they read a developer’s slick marketing materials.
DelDOT is currently analyzing transportation issues along Route 9 as a part of its Coastal Corridors study. The planning for the 2028 comprehensive plan will start soon. County council should wait for the result of the study and for the pending comprehensive plan revision.
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