To Sussex County planning and zoning commissioners and county council members: After considering CZ#1860 and CU#2147, we ask you to honor Sussex County Residential AR-1 zoning principals, purpose, and precedents, and vote no.
To all Sussex County citizens living in communities zoned Residential AR-1: Be alert to developer schemes to insert large-scale commercial enterprises within existing AR-1 districts. If not stopped, your community might become a victim.
Nutshell: The CZ#1860 and CU# 2147 applicant acquired a small commercially zoned parcel on Route 1 (located between Tyndall’s Furniture Store and the Lighthouse Store).
Via CZ#1860 and CU#2147 the attempt is to extend the commercially zoned driveway to an adjoining 10-plus-acre field and forest zoned AR-1, change that zoning to commercial/medium density, clear-cut the forest, build and run a three-building, two-story 150-unit apartment complex that abuts five existing Old Mill Road AR-1 communities, and inject the resulting noise, pollution, over-population, turmoil, disruption, traffic, and congestion onto this AR-1 district.
There is no precedent, urgent requirement, greater-good purpose, or Sussex County Comprehensive Plan line-item or contingency that justifies this AR-1 commercialization and negative impact on existing AR-1 communities or Metro-Lewes/Sussex County. The applications, in fact, are a bad-faith initiative that jeopardizes the health, safety, convenience, order, prosperity and welfare of the present and future inhabitants of Sussex County.
Sussex planning and zoning commissioners and county council members: The Old Mill Road and all Sussex County AR-1 communities are counting on you to honor our county’s history, tradition, precedents and Comprehensive Development and Land Use Plan. After considering CZ#1860 and CU#2147 and any similar applications to commercialize AR-1 districts, vote no.
George Dellinger
Lewes
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