The following letter was sent to Sussex County Council and Sussex County Planning & Zoning with a copy submitted to the Cape Gazette for publication.
We, the board of the Henlopen Gardens Condominium Association, representing our 96 owners, urge you not to approve the rezoning from AR-1 to B-1 for the Townsend property. Our concerns are those of increased traffic along an already congested Kings Highway, and the safety and health of all of our residents, youth and seniors alike. Kings Highway provides access to: the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, Cape Henlopen High School, the numerous communities along Gills Neck Road, and Beebe Healthcare. In addition, it is a primary route for fire, rescue, evacuation, ambulance, and police emergency vehicles whose swift passage would be further impeded.
We feel this rezoning would be detrimental not only to those of us who live in close proximity to the land in question, but to our young adults at Cape Henlopen High School, our seniors in Cadbury, and the Lewes community in general. And finally, not the least of our reasons for opposing this request is the potential for disturbing the Lewes drinking water wellheads.
Unlike other communities, Atlantic Avenue cuts across our community, providing direct access from Kings Highway to Savannah Road and vice-versa. Atlantic Avenue is a narrow, winding road with limited lighting and limited sidewalks and with a posted speed limit of 25 mph, which few observe. The proposed town center would turn this route through our community into more of a gateway from the two primary roads into and out of Lewes, becoming even more of a safety hazard to the residents of our community.
Thank you for your serious consideration of these reasons to oppose the rezoning request as well as the reasons of all of those who join with us in opposition to this rezoning request.
Henlopen Gardens Condominium Association Board
Lewes
-
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.
