Milton council sends Royal Farms proposal to planners

Milton Town Council has sent plans for a proposed Royal Farms at the corner of Union Street Extended and Route 16 to the Milton Planning and Zoning Commission for preliminary site-plan review.

While a date has not yet been set to start the process, the next scheduled planning commission meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 21.

The commission has already heard a concept review on the project, and council’s Aug. 16 decision to send the project to the planners was mostly a formality. 

The 7.68-acre parcel where the Royal Farms would be built was annexed into town in December and is zoned C-1 commercial. Council approved a request July 12 to partition the property into two lots, with 2.5 acres devoted to the Royal Farms and the rest planned for a proposed office/storage complex. 

During site-plan review, Royal Farms will be represented by Virginia-based engineering firm Duffield Associates. 

When the planners heard the concept of the plan July 20, the main issue was the location of the entrance and exit of the property off Cedar Creek Road. The commission was very concerned about cars being allowed to make left-hand turns into the property, stating that such turns were unsafe. Royal Farms was already planning to have right-hand turns only out of the site. 

The convenience store is positioned in the center of the property with the gas pumps fronting Route 16. The plans call for a shared-use path along Route 16. Parking would be located near the Cedar Creek Road entrance and in the rear of the complex along Route 16. Directional signs would be located on the Cedar Creek Road and Route 16 ends of the parcel. Representatives for Royal Farms said at that time, the Delaware Department of Transportation was exploring the possibility of making improvements at the intersection of Route 16 and Union Street Extended, so decisions on that would not be made by Royal Farms.