Plantation Road office, retail plan raises few concerns
A developer presented a plan July 30 to create retail and medical space on a nearly 5-acre lot on Plantation Road west of Lewes.
Property owner Charles D. Pollard is seeking approval of his plan to build 20,000 square feet of medical office space and 28,000 square feet of retail space. The site is on the south side of Plantation Road, at the intersection of Cedar Grove Road and Postal Lane.
Pollard bought the property in 1999 and lives in a home there, said lawyer Tim Willard, who represented him at the July 30 meeting of the Office of State Planning Coordination’s Preliminary Land Use Service.
The property is in an area with commercial and medical facilities, Willard said, noting the owner could have pursued a plan to develop more than 20 homes on the property with the existing MR, medium-density residential, zoning.
“It’s more intense,” Willard said of the nearby development. “I was actually somewhat surprised that it needed PLUS because it’s a permitted zoning category for the Coastal Zone.”
Few comments were offered by state agencies attending the meeting remotely.
The site is in a Level 2 state investment area, where growth is expected, and the Office of State Planning Coordination had no objections as long as county rules are followed. The project will have to be approved by Sussex County.
Hannah Lewis, a state archaeologist, said her agency has some interest in the project.
“The area has a moderate potential for archaeological resources as well as a known historic site on a neighboring site,” Lewis said. “So we will be recommending an archaeological survey before ground-disturbing activities.”
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
