RV park or natural area: Time to put up
After months and months of waiting, endless letters of opposition, intervening elections and posturing, Sussex County Council - pushed against the wall - will soon vote on two controversial recreational vehicle park proposals.
One is for a park near Massey’s Landing on Long Neck Road, the other for a park on a 162-acre parcel near the headwaters of Love Creek. Both received positive recommendations from the county planning commission.
By the sheer volume of letters and discussion, the Love Creek proposal is more controversial.
There’s no denying the intense environmental impact that would result from a 600-unit RV park with amenities, even though the request technically includes a downzoning. Of the 162 acres, 74 are zoned general residential, which allows four units to the acre or a total of about 300 residential units, but does not allow an RV park; the remaining 88 acres are zoned AR-1, which allows two units per acre.
The very reasons this parcel is attractive as an RV park or a residential development also make it worthy of protection and future public use.
Former Secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Colin O’Mara spoke the truth when he said this land, with one of Delmarva’s most significant seasonal wetland ponds and along the headwaters of Love Creek, is “worthy of permanent protection.”
Given that, the council decision is irrelevant. In this rapidly growing section of eastern Sussex, this unique and irreplaceable parcel is destined for development with or without the proposed change.
Instead of debating which kind of development, if 1,000 of the 1,254 people who have signed petitions against the RV park were to pledge $1,000 - some more, some less - there would be $1 million available to form a partnership with other organizations - state and private - to purchase a conservation easement or negotiate an outright purchase.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s oft-quoted admonition rings no truer than in this circumstance: “If you want the view, you have to buy the view.”
That solution would benefit everyone and future generations to come.
