Sussex Council votes down OTC rezoning request
Pleased Sussex County residents took a bug sigh of relief Tuesday after learning that land at the intersection of Cave Neck Road and Route 1 will not be rezoned. Meaning that for now, plans for the massive Overbrook Town Center’s development in Milton have been brought to a halt.
“We we’re really unhappy when they put in this application and worked very hard this year to do whatever we could to get it defeated. I’m just so thrilled. I’m really happy.” Said a relieved Cindy Kruglack of Milton. Rich Holtkamp added, “It’s just a wonderful victory.”
The proposal called for a 114-acre retail property on the land, which could only be possible if the it were rezoned from an agricultural residential area to a commercial residential area. Members of a group called the Overbrook Town Center Coalition opposed this proposal due to concerns over traffic congestion and the environment, as well as doubts over how much business it would actually draw.
“it wasn’t that anybody was against development, especially the coalition. It never was. Our mantra was we’re all for development as long as it’s balanced development and smart growth.” Rusty Kruglak told 47 ABC.
Arguments in favor of the Town Center cited job creation and increased tax revenue. The lone vote for the rezoning in the 4-1 decision came from District 5 Councilman Rob Arlett. Prior to his vote, Arlett made the case that things in southern Delaware are changing and that the county needs to move forward as well.
“Who we are again is a community that is growing and this is along a federal highway,” Said Arlett. “I actually am going to be voting in favor of this.”
If it had passed, Tuesday’s vote would not have meant a surefire green light for construction. But by rezoning, the door would have been opened for commercial development.
In addition, we’re told Sussex County wouldn’t have had any control over a controversial overpass proposed, that would have been up to DelDot. This denial of the rezoning request doesn’t mean that another request cannot be submitted in the future.
Following the vote, we spoke with an attorney representing the coalition to get an idea of what legal options would’ve been available had the vote gone the other way. Attorney Robert Witsil tells 47 ABC that the coalition would’ve been able to file an appeal of the decision. He says an appeal process wouldn’t have put any of the decisions made today on hold. However, now the decision to appeal is up to the developer, TD Rehoboth.
As for something council did grant approval for, Tony Sposato, the owner of Sposato Landscape Company, was given the go-ahead to use an existing warehouse on his property to store imported wine. While speaking to council members, he said the wine will then be distributed across the Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C. area.
