Overbrook heads to council June 2

Editor's note: The story in the May 29 print edition of the Cape Gazette contains incorrect information on a traffic impact study review by state transportation officials based on Sussex County's 2003 comprehensive plan. The DelDOT review was updated to reflect the county's 2008 comprehensive plan, when DelDOT found that the proposed commercial development lies in an environmentally sensitive developing area and would be consistent with the county's land-use plan.

Round 2.

Opponents of the largest commercial venture ever proposed in Sussex County have hired attorney Robert Witsil to plead their case to Sussex County Council during a public hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2.

Developer TD Rehoboth LLC has applied to Sussex County for a change in zoning from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to CR-1, commercial-residential, for a 114-acre parcel of farmland east of the Cave Neck Road-Route 1 intersection. The developer's proposed Overbrook Town Center calls for nearly 800,000 square feet of retail space, six pad sites of nearly 60,000 square feet and more than 5,000 parking spaces. If approved, developers plan to open the center by 2020.

Estimates show the center would generate more than 29,000 vehicular trips – in and out of the center – per weekday and nearly 36,000 trips on Saturdays. The average annual daily traffic count along Route 1 in the area is more than 27,000 vehicles, Delaware Department of Transportation traffic statistics show.

Jim Fuqua, the developer's attorney, said county officials' only decision is the appropriateness of CR-1 zoning for the parcel and not the proposed site plan.

Fuqua said the parcel is located in a growth zone along a major arterial highway. He said the parcel is included in an area where the state directs, anticipates and plans for growth. In addition, he said, the county's comprehensive plan includes the parcel in the Environmentally Sensitive Development District overlay zone, where commercial zoning is permitted.

After a review of the developer's 2014 traffic impact study, DelDOT officials found that the proposed development was consistent with the county's comprehensive land-use plan.

Several hundred people crammed into the county's administration building April 23 to hear testimony during an April 23 four-hour Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission hearing. The commission deferred on a vote following the hearing.

Coalition: Want equal playing field

Coalition member Rich Barrasso said the complexity and potential impact of the commercial center forced the group to dig into their own pockets to hire legal representation.

He said coalition members worked hard to get out information about the project. “But public sentiment can only go so far,” he said. “Legal representation puts us on an equal playing field. Our lawyer has the resources and skill to locate experts with credentials.”

He said he wants county council to have legal reasons based on facts when they make their decision.

He said coalition members and the public will also speak in opposition to the application. “This changes what eastern Sussex County looks like. It's a great place to live with a more casual lifestyle and not a suburb like this would create. A change in our lifestyle is not worth the convenience of a few big box stores,” he said.

The developer estimates at build out, the center would provide as many as 1,400 full- and part-time jobs. The center would be the largest retail complex in Sussex County, nearly 293,000 more square feet than all three Tanger outlets combined.