Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to Sussex County Council with a copy submitted to the Cape Gazette.
Thank you for voting down Atlantic Fields rezoning. I agree the infrastructure is not there to support such a large shopping center.
I would like you to consider an alternate use for either the Atlantic Fields or Belle Mead properties. Southeast Sussex County has no county recreational facility. A park designed to meet the recreational and social needs of this part of the county is sorely needed. A park would also not generate as much traffic as a large shopping center.
A park could eventually include tennis and pickleball courts, basketball courts, handball courts, bocce courts, a skateboard park, biking and fitness trails, picnic facilities, a playground, and an open field for pickup games. This would be a better use of this land than shopping centers or houses. The park could start small and get built on gradually.
Such an enterprise might lend itself to donations from the public and may qualify for grants from the state.
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