The Milton Special Review Committee is set to resume discussions on the proposed annexation of the Carey Farm property on Shingle Point Road. 

The three-person committee will meet at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Milton library to discuss the findings of impacts, advantages, disadvantages and a presentation of a cost-benefit analysis report.

That report is largely why discussion of the annexation has been on hold since May, when council authorized its creation. 

Carey Farm is poised to be one of the town’s larger annexations, potentially adding 192 acres near the intersection of Harbeson and Shingle Point roads. If annexed, plans call for 242 single-family home lots and 143 townhouse units. The land is currently in Sussex County, zoned AR-1, agricultural-residential, but if annexed, developer CD Carey Farms LLC is seeking an R-1 residential zoning with a large-parcel development overlay. 

The special review committee, which includes Councilman Scotty Edler, Vice Mayor Lee Revis-Plank and Planning and Zoning Commissioner Michael O’Brien, gets the first review of all potential annexations. The committee's job is to review the annexation application, weigh the pros and cons, and then make a recommendation to council whether to accept the annexation.

The committee began with a presentation from the applicant in April. After that presentation, the committee decided to ask town council to authorize the town administration to conduct a cost-benefit analysis.  

The Carey Farm development would be part of three developments in the same area across from Mariner Middle School, joining Scarlet Oaks and Four Winds. Scarlet Oaks has already been annexed into Milton; that project’s developers also submitted an application to annex an additional 5 acres at the tip of Scarlet Oaks that is proposed for a commercial component. That annexation was approved by the council in July. While Scarlet Oaks and now Carey Farm are planned to be part of Milton, Four Winds remains part of the county and is a 336-unit subdivision on 169 acres.