Letter to the Editor: Zoning request, ‘a major change’ to Sussex comprehensive plan, opposed by citizens, state agencies

The Great Marsh and eastern Sussex County’s quality of life is under attack again.

A proposal has been submitted to the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission to make a major modification to the county comprehensive plan. This modification would change the land-use designation of approximately 242 acres of land on the east side of Del. 1, directly across from Cave Neck Road, the former site of the proposed Overbrook Town Center commercial development and the currently proposed Overbrook Meadows residential development.

In the most recent comprehensive plan update completed in 2018, County Council designated this land and most other properties north of the Minos Conaway intersection on the east side of Del. 1 as “low-density.” Now, not quite three years later, the owners are proposing to change that designation to “coastal,” which would allow much denser development, not limited to residential.

With no notice to the many communities nearby, this proposed change has been put on the P&Z Commission’s agenda for a public hearing Thursday at 5 p.m. in the County Council Chambers in Georgetown.

The current low-density land-use designation and AR-1 zoning would permit up to 484 single-family homes based on the gross acreage. If the proposed change in the land use is adopted, this could result in potentially 2,904 single and/or multifamily residences based on the gross acreage. It would also potentially permit a wide variety of commercial uses, including retail, car dealers and other heavy commercial enterprises. The Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination has officially stated its opposition to this proposal.

Parcel 235-23.00-1.00 has been seen through the Preliminary Land Use Service on several occasions for both residential and commercial use. These projects were active during discussions about the Sussex County comprehensive plan and the 2020 Strategies for State Policies and Spending, in which the county was involved and commented. This parcel is a Level 4, according to the Office of State Planning Coordination, and low-density in the Sussex County plan for several reasons, including but not limited to:

• The parcel is subject to the Corridor Capacity Preservation Program.
• These properties border out-of-play land, such as the Cedar Trees Farm District.
• There are significant environmental features contiguous to this site plan, including tidal wetlands.
• These parcels are not close to public services, such as water, sewer, police, fire and schools.

The Office of State Planning Coordination report continued, saying, “Amending the comp plan to designate these parcels as coastal would open up a large number of options for the zoning of this property. In the low density area the owners are allowed a maximum of 2 units per acre where in the Coastal … the density could go as high as 12 units per acre and could allow heavy commercial uses. These uses would be away from public utilities and services. The Sussex County certification letter dated April 1, 2019, stated the Sussex County comprehensive plan was certified, provided no major changes are enacted. It is the opinion of the Office of State Planning that this change would constitute a major change to the currently certified comprehensive plan and this office, for the reasons stated in this letter, objects to the comprehensive plan amendment.”

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has also registered its opposition to this proposal. The July 2021 report provided to the state by the county says that the county is working on no less than 23 comp plan strategies regarding wetlands, waterway protection, wellhead protection and wellhead recharge areas, issues cited by DNREC in their statement of opposition.

The comprehensive plan is less than three years old and barely has begun to be implemented. And now, a major change impacting thousands of residents is proposed. The county adopted a plan that responded to the concerns of the citizens, seeking to preserve open space, while allowing low-density residential development to happen in keeping with the character of the area. P&Z must not flip-flop on that determination and must recommend denial of this application.

State agency positions are advisory. The ultimate deciders are the County Council members, and they answer to you, the voting public. Your voices were heard when council denied the high-density Overbrook Town Center proposal twice. No one but developers benefit from allowing high-density residential and heavy-commercial development in this area. Please make your voices heard again.

The commission’s meeting materials, including the “packet,” are available at sussexcountyde.gov. This specific proposal is here.

Contact the commission and let them know your opinion. It doesn’t have to be long or detailed, just clear. To submit comments electronically, send to pandz@sussexcountyde.gov. All comments should be submitted by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

It is important that you also share your thoughts with the members of County Council. Each of their individual emails can be found at sussexcountyde.gov/county-council.

Thank you for caring about the future quality of life of your community.

Jeff Stone

Sussex Alliance for Responsible Growth (SARG)