Give Malfunction Junction veto power
Here we are again, staring down the barrel of another cannon about ready to fire and not doing much to move out of the way.
This time the flash point is that wonderful intersection where Route 1, Route 9, Plantation Road and Beaver Dam Road come together. Malfunction Junction. Its name rolls off the tongue a lot more smoothly than the traffic trying to make its way through.
The intersection is already ridiculous, and with the addition of traffic coming from another 800 units approved and under construction at Lewes Crossing and the Coastal Club, it will only get worse.
The issue is a constant concern for the area as development continues its westward march from Five Points along Route 9 and Beaver Dam Road. The concern was freshened up when Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing last week on a rezoning request for a parcel of land just east of the Lewes Crossing project.
A developer has requested a rezoning of the 19.5-acre parcel to high-density residential to accommodate a 100-unit townhouse project.
The rezoning would increase the two-unit per acre density permitted under the current agricultural-residential zoning to up to 5.12 units per acre as the current project is proposed. The high-density residential zoning allows up to 12 units per acre.
As mentioned in the article, DelDOT officials have talked for years about projects to improve the Five Points area.
Before the economy went south in 2008, major plans were in the works for a realignment of Route 9, skirting the Belltown area, in conjunction with the Vineyards at Nassau Valley project. Like many projects, that one went south, and new intersection plans haven’t resurfaced.
When planning commissioners expressed concern about impact at the failing intersection, the lawyer for the developer said: “I hope they [DelDOT] have a plan for it.”
This rezoning request meets no community need. Until DelDOT shows it has a viable plan to fix Malfunction Junction, no rezoning for increased density should be approved.
