The Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission approved the 187-lot Rivers Edge cluster subdivision May 6, and delayed a recommendation on a 30-acre commercial development planned at Route 1 and Cave Neck Road.

Rivers Edge will construct single-family homes on 113 acres of the 125-acre site along Cave Neck Road south of Milton.

The vote was 3-1, with Commissioner G. Scott Collins opposed because he had concerns about continued development in rural parts of Sussex County and the ability of nearby roads and a bridge to accommodate traffic. Commissioner John Passwaters was absent.

During a March 25 public hearing, neighbors said they were worried about the effects of the project on the environment and traffic.

Beaver Dam Creek flows through the site, and the project includes a pier with a kayak launch on the creek.

The project would avoid encroachment on wetlands and preserve 56% of the forest on the property. A total of 70 acres, or 62% of the site, would be open space.

Nobody spoke at a public hearing on a request by Seaside at Lewes LLC to change the zoning from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to C-2, medium commercial, for the site along Route 1 across from the intersection with Cave Neck Road.

The developer said the 225,000-square-foot commercial development would create smaller stores and offices, rather than big-box stores.

The site is adjacent to a planned 359 single-family home development.

The Delaware Department of Transportation is planning a project to create a grade-separated intersection at Route 1 and Cave Neck Road, shifting Route 1 to the east and creating a service road in its current location.

The commercial development would not move ahead until after that is completed, said David Hutt, an attorney representing the developer.

Hutt said the site is currently used for farming, but its use for that purpose will be limited by the DelDOT project.