Milton planners give new extension for Royal Farms

The Milton Planning and Zoning Commission granted a second one-year extension of final site-plan approval to Royal Farms.

The long-delayed Royal Farms project has been that way for a few different reasons. The original final site-plan approval was given in May 2023, and an extension was given a year later to work out issues related to the traffic pattern changes that will go in as part of the project.

Royal Farms is continuing to work on coordinating agreements with the Delaware Department of Transportation, which has been one of the main obstacles to building the proposed 4,700-square-foot convenience store and a 5,100-square-foot area for gas pumps. The project includes intersection improvements on both Route 16/Cedar Creek Road and Route 16/Union Street Extended, which include turn lanes, reconfiguring the traffic signal and pedestrian walkways. 

The main issue is the funding for the improvements. Royal Farms is seeking to help share the costs of the improvements through Milton’s transportation improvement district with DelDOT, with Sussex County also having a say in the process. That process has been slow not just because of having to coordinate the different agencies, but also because the Royal Farms is in a recently annexed area of town, having been added in December 2020. 

Milton signed its transportation improvement district agreement with DelDOT in 2022, but implementation is still ongoing. Project Coordinator Tom Quass said the town has endorsed Royal Farms’ application, but because the roadway is managed by DelDOT, the town cannot do much more than that. 

Under the TID, developers are assessed a fee per unit or square foot, with all money used for district projects. Under the TID, a developer pays for a percentage of the costs, with the rest coming from state or federal funding sources. The benefit for the developer is the costs are known and they do not have to go through a traffic impact study. For state, local and county officials, they are allowed more say in work that goes on in the district. 

At the commission’s May 20 meeting, both James Taylor, engineer for the project, and Town Solicitor Seth Thompson agreed the main issue at this point is funding, as very little about the actual on-the-ground project has changed. The main change is Artesian Wastewater has asked Royal Farms to provide updates to its sewer plans, which were originally submitted in 2022, to reflect recent regulatory changes. 

In addition, Royal Farms has also been working to coordinate contractors for different portions of the project. 

Royal Farms first announced the project in July 2021, and received special-use permit and preliminary approvals in 2022.

The extension will last until June 5, 2026.