Rezoning sought for Harbeson shopping complex

Plans to develop the land next to the Royal Farms in Harbeson as heavy commercial hit a snag Oct. 1 when the county planning board deferred the application to determine if the proposed use complies with the comprehensive development plan.

Owner W&B Hudson Family is seeking to rezone the parcel from a split AR-1, agricultural residential and MR, medium density residential, to a C-3, heavy commercial district. 

The proposed rezoning involves six parcels consisting of a total of 37 acres fronting Route 9 near the intersection of Harbeson Road. 

Mark Davidson, land planner for the Hudsons, said owner Wayne Hudson grew up on the land, which has also been used for farming. Davidson said the plan is to build a retail shopping complex, which would include a supermarket and a drug store as anchors, as well as warehouses and storage in the rear of the property. 

Davidson said part of the plan includes extending the roadway behind the Royal Farms to provide access from Route 5. He said roadway improvements would be undertaken at Hudson’s expense, and that the plan is to connect the shopping center to the Rails to Trails for better pedestrian access. Davidson said the center will not create a nuisance or otherwise hurt property values in the area. 

The problem for the planners is reconciling the proposal with the limits of the county comprehensive plan. 

The commission’s attorney, Vince Robertson, said some of the parcels, on the east and south sides, are designated as low density, which allows for residential housing, farms and small-scale businesses.   According to a commission report, commercial uses in low-density areas should be limited by size, location and hours of operation, with intense uses to be avoided. 

A review of the proposal by Delaware Department of Transportation estimated the development would generate 500 vehicle trips per day. The department considers any development generating 200 or more trips to be of major impact. However, DelDOT could not predict the number of trips the site would generate with enough accuracy for a traffic-impact study until more concrete land development plans are submitted

The commission’s pre-hearing report says, “A change of zone to a Heavy Commercial zoning district in this location may not be consistent with the future land use map within the adopted comprehensive plan of 2018.”

Davidson questioned whether the property should be deemed low density, since it abuts an in-use railroad line and is near Allen Harim’s chicken-processing plant and the new Royal Farms.

Robertson said he needed to do further research on whether the commission could approve the rezoning as submitted, and recommended the commission defer action until he could sort out the comprehensive plan issues. 

“We have a future land-use map that shows this is low density. If there’s one thing in our comp plan that has the force of law, it’s the future land-use map,” Robertson said. “I have to go back and look at what our comprehensive plan says about low density.”