I appreciate the concerns raised in the letter titled, “Don’t shift problems from one town to another,” by Jeff Mulveny, about the Ocean One retail development. No community wants to inherit avoidable congestion. That instinct is healthy. But the larger issue before us is how Sussex County plans for growth that is already underway.
Ocean One is not a theory or a placeholder. It was rezoned C-3 by Sussex County Council two years ago after public review. Construction planning is advancing, with a targeted 2027 opening that includes retail and about 500 units of workforce housing. Road improvements associated with the Route 16 interchange are expected to be completed later this year, well before the center opens. The site sits directly along Route 1, essentially 0.0 miles from a major arterial highway designed to handle regional traffic volumes. There are no unfunded, speculative road widenings required to make it function.
That distinction is important. In the Atlantic Fields case, infrastructure was the central issue. Sussex County code requires adequate existing or planned infrastructure for a C-4 rezoning. In April 2024, in response to Atlantic Fields’ PLUS application, the Office of State Planning Coordination stated the state had “no objections … provided it meets the codes and regulations of Sussex County.” Ultimately, the question was not whether retail is desirable, most residents agree it is, but whether the surrounding road network could support the proposed intensity. County council determined it could not.
Those lessons matter.
Sussex County is one of the fastest-growing areas in Delaware. Population growth will not stop at the Route 1 corridor. Western and central Sussex will continue to add residents who need grocery stores, pharmacies, medical offices, hardware stores and everyday services close to home. That growth will require thoughtful placement of retail along corridors such as Route 113, development scaled to serve local communities, not create new regional traffic magnets.
Housing affordability is a statewide challenge, but Sussex must plan for itself. If we fail to align housing, retail and infrastructure, we risk losing what makes this county special: open space, manageable roads and communities that function.
Ocean One is in motion today. Supporting well-located retail that fits existing infrastructure, while planning deliberately for inland growth, is not shifting problems; it is learning from experience and doing better.
Growth is inevitable. Chaos is not.
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