Group raising concerns over possible new apartment complex in Ocean View

OCEAN VIEW, Del.- A coalition of concerned property owners and communities, known as Evans Farm Watch, are opposing the development of Evans Farm, in Ocean View, into a multi-family apartment complex.

“We fully recognize that that property will be developed, our objections are that this is the wrong development, the wrong place for such a development, and the wrong time,” Martin Lampner, a Whites Creek Manor Resident and Community President, said.

Linder and Company, Inc. are the property owners.,  looking to build 200 apartments on this piece of land.

But some residents we spoke with said it may cause more traffic, something the roads aren’t equipped for.

“The most recent detailed study of them was done in 2008 and found that they were not up to standard at that time, and one of our concerns is principally the impacts that traffic will have on those already here,” Lampner said.

Also, there are concerns about storm water runoff and creating a threat to the communities that already deal with flooding.

“There already is substantial nuisance and sometimes sever flooding in the area,” Lampner said.

“Once you start digging around and start putting in the water and septic systems and all that, you’re risking a lot of damage, not just to the people moving in there but to the people around them,” Spencer Sturla, a Delaware resident, said.

On top of this, residents said they are looking for a better design for the project.

“The way they have been assembled on this sight makes it look far more like a commercial property than it does a residential and everything that surrounds it will be predominately single family homes,” Lampner said.

And moving forward some residents said before building a new development, the infrastructure should be a priority.

“Something needs to be done, we need to do better, we need to work on the infrastructure,” Sturla said.

We did reach out to the property owners, but we did not hear anything back.

We also reached out to the land planners and the attorney representing Linder and Company, Inc., they also didn’t get back to us.

There was a planning and zoning meeting where Evans Farm development project was approved, and Tuesday there was a council meeting.

We did reach out to the County and they said this is a pending land use matter, and they do not comment on active land use applications.