Here are reasons why the property at the southeast corner of Angola Road and Route 24 should never be commercially rezoned and developed beyond its current state.
1) There is no compelling reason to change the zoning to commercial. Only the buyer and seller will benefit.
2) The local residents have strongly opposed the proposed convenience store and gas station, and feel that it will hurt their property values and lifestyle.
3) The local residents all bought their properties knowing that there was no convenience store and gas station nearby and thought they were going to live in a rural community. There is no demonstrated need for a convenience store and gas station.
4) A traffic problem of some magnitude is inevitable due to the limited space for the proposed driveway between the wetlands and the intersection and the sharp curve in Angola Road.
5) Permeable surface on this property will be greatly reduced, creating contaminated runoff. The proposed development will add petroleum residue, related chemicals and trash to the water runoff that can only go into the wetlands and creek nearby.
If it is your wish to make Route 24 look like Route 1, and you insist on changing the zoning on this property, please wait. Please table the application for a zoning change on this property until after the intersection reconstruction is competed in 2022 and after a new traffic study can be completed by DelDOT. By that time many of the new homes in the area will be completed and occupied, and a much more realistic traffic pattern will be obvious.
Traffic note: On page 15 of the Middle Creek Preserve Traffic Study evaluation which was done by DelDOT’s consultant McCormick Taylor Inc., there is a section on safety. Page 16 indicates that that there were 23 crashes reported at Route 24 and Angola Road/Robinsonville Road between June 22, 2013,through June 22, 2016. On page 16 under the heading of Sight Distance, the last paragraph states “The study area generally consists of straight and flat roadways.”
Now this study area included Angola Road, and we all know that there is a significant curve on Angola Road near the location of the proposed convenience store. On page 17 under the heading Existing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, DelDOT’s own traffic consultant appears to describe Angola Road as a minor street.
I don’t know what the crash data reflects between June 22, 2016 and now, but I know that on May 10, 2018, there was a bicycle rider struck by a vehicle at Route 24 and Angola Road, because I saw emergency vehicles at the scene that day.
Peter and Nancy Treiber
Angola
-
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 newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
