Proposed plans for 70 room hotel and restaurant brings about DE resident concerns

DELAWARE- Talk surrounding a new hotel and restaurant in Sussex County is going around, and some saying they’re concerned on the impacts this project could bring.

“I was pretty heartbroken, I’ve kind of had a knot in the pit of my stomach thinking about not driving down route 54 and not being able to see that view that I’ve seen for the past 30 years,” Samantha Danaher, a resident in the area, said.

I’m told Carl M. Freeman Companies are planning to build a 70 room hotel and restaurant for this coastal area off the intersection of route 54 and Bennett Ave near Fenwick Island.

Two residents I spoke with said the land they are requesting to build on should be protected.

“We have a lot of high tide in storms and hurricanes here, so I think about how wetlands are important for managing storm water runoff and the effects of what parking lots and buildings and things like that would have,” Kirsten Mcguigan, a resident in the area, said.

Along with trying to preserve the land, I’m told the area is known for having smaller residences and low profile buildings.

So, this addition wouldn’t be pleasing to the eye.

“So, I just don’t think aesthetically it would fit in, I don’t think it necessarily fits in with our community and sort of our culture here,” Mcguigan said.

They also added that the infrastructure wouldn’t be able to handle the increase in traffic.

“Many of our residents here are retirees, and so the concern of ambulances and fire trucks trying to get through in an emergency is a huge concern for them if traffic increases,” Danaher said.

With these concerns in mind, residents asked how they can make their voices heard.

They’ve been encouraging concerned people to write letters to the Planning and Zoning Commission and council before the public hearing on June 10.

” They need to have the best interest of their local citizens and residents at heart,” Danaher said.

” I would that the planning and zoning commission would make a recommendation and the county council will vote in a way that honors the wants and needs of the people that live here,” Mcguigan said.

In a statement, the Senior Vice President of the Carl M. Freeman Companies said at the public hearing they would like to honor that process and the elected officials, as it provides an open and fair opportunity for everyone to ask questions and address concerns.

The company also said they’re clustering the development towards the road to preserve sensitive areas of the site.

They’re also making investments in infrastructure and installing a traffic signal.