Stockley Materials project receives OK from county council
A conditional use for Stockley Materials to prepare, process and store materials related to its existing borrow pit on a Georgetown site was approved July 15 by Sussex County Council.
The plan initially came under fire from neighbors who complained to the county’s planning & zoning commission about conditions on the 82.3-acre property, which they claimed violated terms of a previous conditional-use permit issued for the borrow pit.
After an inspection of the property, the county was satisfied and the project on a 6-acre portion of the site advanced to the July 15 vote by council.
Before the final vote, an amendment was unanimously passed to require a berm planned for the property parallel to Peterkins Road be completed with the other installation requirements of the conditional use. The berm project was originally expected to be completed at a later date during a previously planned expansion of the borrow pit.
The amendment was offered by Councilman John Rieley, who said the owner had agreed to the change in timing for the berm project.
Council then unanimously approved the conditional use for Stockley Materials.
Neighbors attending an April 16 planning & zoning commission meeting said they worried the new project would increase noise and dust that carry off site. The expedited construction of the berm is intended to alleviate those concerns.
Stockley Materials plans to process soil, trees and other vegetation removed from road construction projects on the borrow pit property. Soil, mulch and biomass processed there will be sold from other Stockley Materials locations.
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.
