Old Mill Road area residents oppose self-storage units

A proposed -self storage facility near the Nassau bridge has drawn opposition from neighbors who say the area is not appropriate for a large commercial project.

Todd Fisher of Lewes has filed a conditional-use application to build Red Mill Storage on 3.6 acres near the intersection of Old Mill Road and Route 1. The two AR-1, agricultural-residential, zoned parcels had previously been approved for a tennis complex that was not built.

Phased plans include a one-story building and three, three-story buildings totaling up to 157,000 square feet with 1,800 to 2,000 storage units at build out. The facility would be fenced and gated and open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with no outside or commercial storage. An attendant would be at the site at all times, according to plans filed with the county planning and zoning office.

The developer said the project conforms with other commercial development in the immediate area along Route 1.

Residents who testified at the Oct. 23 planning and zoning public hearing say the plan would increase traffic. They also say a commercial project conflicts with the residential nature of the area. Planning and zoning commissioners deferred on a vote. The county council public hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18.

Testifying for the developer, traffic engineer Betty Tustin of Berlin, Md., said state officials required no traffic impact study; she also said there have been only two crashes at the Old Mill-Route 1 intersection over the past three years.

“There will be a minimal amount of traffic, and the traffic will not pass residential areas,” Tustin said, adding the facility would generate about the same daily traffic as a cemetery.

Commission President Bob Wheatley asked Tustin to put the traffic impact in more realistic terms saying that most people have no idea how much traffic goes in and out of a cemetery.

Tustin said it was hard to determine the number of trips per day the proposed project would generate because the square footage of the facility could vary.

She said at most, about 200 vehicles would use the self-storage buildings during a 24-hour period. But, she said, during peak hours no more than 20 vehicles would use the facility, which is about the same amount of traffic created by single-family homes.

Residents did not agree with Tustin's assessment of the potential traffic impact on the area.

“They are not being accurate what the road is like,” said Mary Groome, who lives in Nassau Woods. Groome's parents purchased 180 acres of land in the area in 1933 and built their homestead, which still stands on Old Mill Road. That land has been developed into communities over the decades.

“We are a private people, and I think they are taking advantage of us,” Groome said.

“This is what we will see at the entrance to our community,” said Bill Landon, who lives off Old Mill Road. “This is a nice, quiet area, but commercial continues to creep in.”

Landon said residents' only access is to use Old Mill Road to get onto Route 1. “It's always a white- knuckle affair,” he said. Motorists accelerate off the Nassau bridge heading north making it harder to cross over to the median to travel south on Route 1, he said and residents heading north on Route 1 are forced to accelerate quickly.

Vince Grady, who lives in The Oaks, said box trucks and vehicles towing trailers would have a hard time getting up to speed. “This is so wrong for Old Mill Road on so many levels,” he said.

Jim Wright, who lives on Old Mill Road, said he would live adjacent to the proposed facility. “I don't want to live 150 feet from this,” he said. “I don't see any benefits; 80 property owners will be affected.”

David Williams, who lives in Nassau Acres, said the proposed project does not conform to county code because AR-1 zoning is intended for residential and agricultural uses.

“The first house in the block sets the stage for the neighborhood,” said George Dellinger, who lives on Sandpiper Road, adding that 30-foot buildings do not belong in a residential area.

Dellinger presented the commission with a 37-page rebuttal to the application. The county's planning and zoning office has received more than 50 letters and emails in opposition to the application.

Dellinger said he conducted a survey of eight self-storage companies in the immediate area. “All had access to a main road – not a residential road,” he said.

Others questioned the need for another self-storage business in the area.

“Economic considerations are beyond the scope of what the commission does. The applicant does not have to prove a need,” Wheatley said.