First of all, I would like to thank Sussex County Council for allowing the long line of opponents to express their concerns about the proposed conditional-use application for a 7-Eleven store and fuel station on Route 24 and Angola Road. The meeting on Sept. 17 lasted over three hours.
So yes, thank you for your patience, and even responding back to the developer based on some of the comments from these opponents.
I am a property owner and full-time resident of Angola By The Bay, a community on Angola Road that is very close to where the proposed fuel station is to be placed. This community is also where the wellhead is located that supplies drinking water to the Tidewater water system.
A small stream, Sarah’s Run, is located very near the lower edge of this proposed 7- Eleven fuel station. Sarah’s Run flows to the aquifer that is the source of water to that wellhead for Tidewater. This area is a wellhead protection zone.
My concern is stormwater runoff would carry any fuel leak, from a few drops over time by customers, to a catastrophic event, to this wellhead area and would contaminate the drinking water being supplied to Tidewater. Stormwater ponds could catch some of this runoff, but I believe it would leach into the soil or go directly to Sarah’s Run, and the aquifer and Herring Creek and eventually to Rehoboth Bay.
As for traffic, I believe the proposed entrances and exits to this store at the corner of this intersection would result in cars doing illegal U-turns in many directions to get cars and big trucks back onto Route 24. The developer, Kirk Salvo, is a fellow property owner here in Angola By The Bay, and I genuinely wish him success with his investment in this piece of property at the corner of Route 24 and Angola Road.
Mr. Salvo, as does anyone, has the right to the opportunity to succeed in business. Many of us are just very concerned about the possible negative results to the environment, our health, and safety that this 7-Eleven store and fuel station at this location will produce.
Jack Noel
Lewes
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