Sussex P&Z board endorses controversial Atlantic Fields shopping center

Now, Southside Investment Partners has to convince the Sussex County Council to change the property’s zoning to allow for retail businesses. If approved, the project could be built unless subsequent plans fail to meet certain county standards. 

The council will hold a public hearing about the rezoning at its Oct. 21 meeting. Public hearings start at 1:30 p.m., and residents can comment in person or over the phone.  

Why did the commission recommend approval?

Planning & Zoning Commission members and county staff jointly wrote a statement with a list of reasons why county council should approve the rezoning request. 

The statement said Sussex County officials already decided they want retail stores on the land where Atlantic Fields would be built. County officials labeled the area as commercial in the county’s comprehensive plan, a set of guidelines for where and how the county should grow. 

The statement also said that the project is in a good location because it is close to Route 1, on a bus route and along Route 24, which is a major east-west connection road.

It said the project would bring retail stores and restaurants close to where many residents live. 

“This benefits the residents of this community and other Sussex County residents by reducing the need to travel further away,” the statement said. 

Dissenting vote notes traffic concerns

Only one member of the commission voted against recommending approval. 

Gregory Scott Collins, who represents the district where the project would be built, dissented, saying he is concerned the Delaware Department of Transportation will not be able to complete the road improvements necessary to address resident concerns. 

Atlantic Fields would bring an additional estimated 13,000 cars to the roads on an average weekday, which residents say is too many for the already busy Route 24 corridor.

The project is also next to Mulberry Knoll Road, which has only two lanes and no curbs. 

The Planning & Zoning Commission recommended the county council prevent businesses from sending delivery trucks onto Mulberry Knoll Road until DelDOT makes the road safer. County staff after the meeting did not clarify what those road improvements would be. 

Instead, all trucks would go onto Route 24 — which could worsen the feared congestion on the road. 

Projects to improve Mulberry Knoll Road and widen Route 24 will be in preliminary stages through 2032, according to DelDOT’s draft Capital Improvement Plan, which outlines the projects the transportation agency will fund in the next five years. 

Southside Investment Partners President Ben Hoskins told Spotlight Delaware that if the zoning change is approved, he expects Atlantic Fields would open in 2028 — well before the road improvements would even begin construction. 

But County Councilman Steve McCarron previously told Spotlight Delaware that many road improvements are funded in large part by developers. Without new developments, DelDOT would not have enough money to make those necessary improvements.

A representative with Southside Investment Partners told the county Planning & Zoning Commission at an earlier meeting that the company will build $4 million worth of road improvements and give $3 million to DelDOT for future improvements.