Where do we want to be in 10, 20, 30 years?

Woody Allen once said that 80 percent of life is showing up.

Bob Wheatley, chairman of the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission, agrees.

If you’re concerned about land use in Sussex County, he said, you should attend public hearings about the Comprehensive Plan.

Wheatley spoke last week at Fish On restaurant before about 25 members of the 20th Representative District Democratic Committee.

Wheatley was joined by two other panelists, Barry Goodinson of the Milton Planning and Zoning Commission, and Barbara Vaughan of the Lewes Planning Commission.

Watch for announcements about hearings for the 2018 comprehensive plan in the Cape Gazette. It’s your chance to be heard.

“This is your opportunity to influence the plan,” Wheatley said. “It’s pretty much your one opportunity to influence the plan.”

According to Wheatley, people who air their concerns and suggestions, at a minimum, will have their views considered. Often, he said, those concerns are reflected in the final plan.

But you’ve got to show up.

“I have seen times,” Wheatley said, “when the only people who showed up at these meetings were the developers.”

In that case, Wheatley asked, whose considerations do you think are included in the comprehensive plan?

“You have to show up and be willing to say what you think,” said Wheatley, who has served on the commission for 20 years, 10 years as chairman.

Overbrook not a done deal

After the speakers’ opening comments, the floor was opened to questions. Among the first topics was the Cape Region’s current No. 1 land use issue, the Overbrook Town Center.

Overbrook, planned for the north side of Route 1 opposite Cave Neck Road, would be the largest shopping center in the region, covering more square footage than all of the outlet centers combined.

The center has provoked intense opposition. It was, however, recommended for approval June 11 by the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission, with Wheatley voting with the 3-2 majority.

Wheatley made no apologies for his vote. It’s the commission’s job, he said, to evaluate the application against the land-use plan “as it was presented to us.”

As for traffic, which appears to be the chief concern, he said “There is a general feeling that the traffic is already here,” and that Overbrook itself will not bring more traffic or people to the area.

But Wheatley emphasized that it’s not a done deal. The Overbrook hearing before Sussex County Council, he said, was two and a half hours longer than the planning commission’s hearing.

“Clearly, they heard information that we did not hear,” said Wheatley. “It is entirely possible and entirely appropriate if they reach a different decision.”

His advice for those who oppose the center? Get involved.

Wheatley recommended that Overbrook opponents contact not only their own county council member but others as well. (The Overbrook site is in Councilwoman Joan Deaver’s Third District.)

Specifically, he said, opponents should work with people in other districts to “bring pressure to bear” on other council members, most notably Councilman Rob Arlett of the Fifth District, which runs along the bottom of Sussex County.

(Wheatley ran and lost to Arlett in the last election but said that had nothing to do with his comments. He said he thinks Arlett could be the swing vote.)

But people need to work quickly, because once the decision is made, that’s it. “It’s what we’re all going to have to live with,” he said.

The same can be said of the county’s comprehensive plan, which has to be updated every 10 years. The League of Women Voters of Sussex County has already held hearings on the comprehensive plan and will be offering more over the next two years.

Goodinson and Vaughan both discussed the importance of the comprehensive plan.

“If you drive by Route 1 you can see what happens when you don’t do smart planning,” Goodinson said. “We’re living with the consequences of poor planning or lack of planning in the 15, 20, 30 years before us. We don’t want to do this to our grandchildren.”

Not only is Route 1 ugly and inconvenient, it’s dangerous. If we were doing Route 1 today, for example, we would be more likely to consider bike safety. Just recently we lost another young woman in a bike accident. “The problem,” said Vaughan, “is that we don’t look far enough into the future. We don’t have good discussions about where we want to be.

“Where do we want to be in 10 years?” asked Vaughan.

That’s the question we all have to consider.


Don Flood is a former newspaper editor living near Lewes. He can be reached at floodpolitics@gmail.com.