Deny the Overbrook Town Center Rezoning! Again!

The out of State developers who propose rezoning 114 acres of active farmland to build the largest shopping center in Sussex County and perhaps the State have a new hearing before the County Council on February 27, 2018.  This petition asks for you to join the Overbrook Town Center Coalition- OTCC in demanding the Sussex County Council to once again VOTE NO to deny a change of Zone from AR-1 to CR-1

The Facts:

The Overbrook Town Center Coalition or OTCC contends the rezoning of this large tract of land is inconsistent and out of character with the surrounding rural and residential parcels in the area.

As recently as January 2016, the State Office of Planning stated officially and unequivocally that based on the most recent analysis of criteria used to delineate where the State will support development, state investments and policies for this parcel should retain the rural landscape and preserve open spaces and farmland and support farmland industries.

Based on the developers estimates, the Regional Shopping Center will result in a substantial increase in vehicular traffic to already failing yearlong levels of service. Grid lock, traffic accidents and emergency response delays will have a huge negative impact on Eastern Sussex way of life.

Although the applicant has proposed a very large unified shopping center, the Council should not focus on just that purpose. Under current Sussex County Zoning ordinances this developer can intentionally present one site plan at the hearing and not be bound to build it.  In fact, the developer could build any mixture of many of the following permitted uses:

  • indoor amusement places
  • boat and trailer sales facilities
  • car washes
  • hotels
  • lumber yards
  • manufactured home sales lots
  • tire sales shops
  • metal shops
  • garages
  • restaurants
  • and all sorts of retail uses

There was substantial testimony and other evidence presented during the 2015 public hearing in opposition to this application, so much commercial acreage is not compatible with the nearby Great Marsh, a significant environmental feature pf eastern Sussex County. The Delaware of Natural Resources and Environmental Control or DNREC has determined that a significant portion falls within an excellent ground-water recharge potential area for the Sussex County.  Land use activities or impervious cover on areas of excellent ground-water recharge potential may adversely affect ground water in these areas. The proposed site plan's large percentage of impervious cover in this project is parking and roadways. This type of land use produces petroleum hydrocarbons, other organics, metals, and other inorganics. The contaminants associated with this land use could easily infiltrate the unconfined aquifer and compromise water quality. Other professionals with several environmentally focused organizations there is significant concern over the protection of this fragile ecosystem.

Your attendance at 10:00 am at the Sussex County Courthouse in Georgetown on Tuesday February 27, 2018 is critically important. Please join the Overbrook Town Center Coalition to strongly encourage the Council to deny the TD Rehoboth LLC zone change application.

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