Traffic concerns raised about Atlantic Fields shopping center plan

A Sept. 17 public hearing on a sprawling retail center proposed for Route 24 near Lewes drew more than 130 people, torn between desire for more shopping options and concerns the project will overwhelm the community.

Even some opponents of the proposed 695,000-square-foot project said they wanted the retail stores the project promises, but at another location.

Stores that have committed to space in the shopping center are Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Nordstrom Rack, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hobby Lobby and Ross Stores, said Ben Hoskins, president of applicant Southside Investment Partners. Hoskins declined to identify other potential tenants because agreements have not yet been reached.

The tentative target for opening some of the stores is May 2028, he said.

The project was outlined by Hoskins and the company’s lawyer Jim Fuqua.

Fuqua said the project is compatible with county and state plans, noting the county comprehensive land-use plan approved in 2018 and the county future land-use map each designate the 73.5-acre site for commercial development.

“In reality, the applicant didn’t choose the site,” Fuqua said. “The county actually chose the site, and through the comprehensive plan directed the applicant to this site, to this location as being an appropriate place for the proposed use.”

“A rezoning application is not a popularity contest,” he said, anticipating the public opposition that was to come. 

Asked by county officials for a show of hands, 15 people in the audience supported the project, while 62 were opposed.

Many of the objections to the proposal centered around traffic concerns.

Access will be from Route 24, which sees significant congestion at times, and is not expected to be widened west of the site by the state for years. Other accesses will come from Mulberry Knoll Road, a narrow two-lane road.

A project to extend and improve Mulberry Knoll Road northwest to Route 9 is also many years away, Department of Transportation representatives said at the meeting.

Commissioner Scott Collins asked if there was any consideration to building housing as part of the project. Hoskins said it is purely a commercial development.

“This project, which aims to bring a new commercial development to our area, is a significant opportunity for our community,” said Chris Haffer, who said he recently moved to Lewes off Mulberry Knoll Road after retiring.

Haffer noted that Target was recognized for its low grocery prices, which he believes will save customers money and prompt other supermarkets to lower prices to compete.

Several neighbors said they worried they would have great difficulty driving in and out of their housing developments with the increased traffic from the shopping center.

Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall, D-Rehoboth Beach, who said she was speaking as a citizen, was among those in opposition to the project.

“If you listen to the developer’s attorney in his comprehensive statement about this project, it sounds like a utopian shopping experience and also that you all have no authority to not approve the zoning change,” said Snyder-Hall. “I would maintain that neither of those things are true.”

She said she was concerned about the deterioration of the quality of life in eastern Sussex County. She noted the stores will draw many people to the area.  

“I fear that this mammoth shopping center, even if it has attractive stores – or particularly because it has attractive stores – is going to vastly increase traffic on a road that is already very congested,” she said.

The estimated 1,750 permanent store employees will also contribute to the traffic, Snyder-Hall said.

“Where are those folks going to live?” she asked. “They’re probably going to have to drive in from where they live because you can’t afford to live in the area. That’s also going to increase traffic.”

While Fuqua said the project includes stormwater management systems, Snyder-Hall said she worries it would produce more flooding.

“For the welfare of current and future residents, I hope that you deny the request for a zoning change to allow this mammoth development,” Snyder-Hall said.

Ken Sutter, who lives on Collins Avenue just north of the site, noted five houses on the street are on private wells and septic systems. Sutter said he’s worried about contamination from the shopping center, especially the Costco gas station that would be nearby.

“That is a huge, huge concern for us five homeowners directly abutting this property, not to mention the runoff and whatever,” he said.

The development is also vastly larger than any other activity in the area, Sutter said.

The state required a traffic study that resulted in plans for projects costing $3 million to $4 million, including improving Mulberry Knoll Road and Route 24 within its road frontage, and targeted work on nearby roads.

That includes adding a traffic signal and two right-in/right-out access lanes on Route 24, two roundabouts on Mulberry Knoll Road at accesses to the site, another at a site access on Plantation Road, and one at Mulberry Knoll and Cedar Grove roads. The developer will also prepare a traffic signal justification study for the intersection of Robinsonville and Kendale roads.

A 4-foot-high decorative fence along Route 24 would direct pedestrians to use the proper road crossings, and a 6-foot fence would be built along the back of the property. Pedestrian and bicycle shared-use paths are planned. Four bus stops would be added.

The developer must also pay $3 million to the Henlopen Transportation Improvement District for other infrastructure work in the area.

The commission deferred action on the application. It will be considered at the next meeting set for Wednesday, Oct. 1.