This is in response to two recent articles in Cape Gazette "State planners: Put hold on Freeman Project" and "Residents question Sussex cluster ordinance.”
There are too many reasons why the Freeman project must be stopped to address in the space allotted here, but I will speak to cutting down of hundreds of acres of old-growth forests, as well as traffic concerns regarding the already-overstressed Route 9 corridor. These issues were already mentioned in the Freeman article.
As to the related article on cluster subdivisions, I am in favor of revising the ordinance to prevent the mass destruction of old-growth forests. It is pathetic to think that planting a few saplings will somehow justify the clear-cutting.
I go by the intersection of Gravel Hill Road and Pettyjohn Road several times a week, and each time I am sickened at the destruction of 360 acres of forest to create one of these cluster sites. What about preserving enough of the forests to sustain some of the various types of wildlife that make their homes in the forests?
If county officials cannot change the ordinance, maybe it's time the state overrules.
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