Milton review committee to seek cost-benefit analysis on Carey Farm

The Milton Special Review Committee is asking town council to direct administration to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed annexation of the Carey Farm property. 

The committee had to ask the town council to mandate the cost-benefit analysis, as it is an advisory body and cannot mandate town officials to do anything. Once council votes on moving forward with the analysis and it is completed, the committee will meet again to discuss it, a timetable that is expected to take around 45 days. Council does not meet again until Monday, May 4. 

The committee’s April 22 meeting was its first look at the proposed Carey Farm annexation, which would add 192 acres to the town near the intersection of Harbeson and Shingle Point roads. If annexed, plans call for 242 single-family homes and 143 townhouses to be built on the site. 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 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 have also submitted an application to annex an additional 5 acres at the tip of Scarlet Oaks that is proposed for a commercial component. That request is still under review by the planning and zoning commission.

David Hutt, attorney representing the developer, said there would be interior connections to both Scarlet Oaks and Four Winds. Plans call for two entrances to the development, one on Shingle Point Road and another on Harbeson Road. Hutt said the density of the proposed development is consistent with what is allowed in Sussex County but much less than what would be allowable under the town’s R-1 zoning designation, which could allow more than 500 homes. The land is within Milton’s future-land-use area. 

“Annexation of this property really affords the town to control what goes there, ultimately, and how it’s developed,” Hutt said. He added the town also stands to gain additional fees from property and transfer taxes and building fees from the addition and development of the property.

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.

Besides the developer, the committee – chaired by Vice Mayor Lee Revis-Plank and including Councilman Scotty Edler and Michael O’Brien of the planning and zoning commission – also heard from major town administrative department heads, including Police Chief Derrick Harvey, Water Department Supervisor Jimmy Kersey and Public Works Superintendent Dan Donaway. 

Harvey said it is likely the department would need no fewer than two new officers over time to be able to keep up with the new developments. Kersey said based on the numbers provided in the plan, the town has enough water capacity to serve the community.                                                                                                          

Edler said he appreciated the developer’s efforts to save trees on the parcel; however, he did have concerns about how children would be getting to nearby Mariner Middle School from the development. Engineer Eric Wahl said there will be a sidewalk along Harbeson Road going to a crosswalk that would be able to take kids safely to the school. Edler said he still had concerns about kids from the rear side of the development next to Shingle Point Road getting to the school without having to trek to the other side of the development or through Scarlet Oaks.  

Revis-Plank said she had concerns about the amount of car trips the development would generate and asked the developer to seek ways to ease that.