Sussex density goals put to the test by controversial Belle Mead development

Nearly three hours later during that council meeting last Tuesday, an exhausted Sussex County Council opted not to vote on a measure that would allow the Belle Mead apartment and retail development to be built along a stretch of Route 24 that has been targeted for future growth. 

Still, two council members have indicated that they will support the planned apartments and retail shops.

“Believe me, I have a lot of heartburn and trepidation at the idea of losing farmland, or in this case a horse ranch,” Councilperson Matt Lloyd said during the meeting. “But there is a demand, and I’m not so heartless that I would want to deny certain housing classes.”

Councilperson Steve McCarron said this project fits recent recommendations from a county working group for how to manage growth in the booming Southern Delaware region. 

The working group has recommended that the county council encourage denser and more affordable developments – such as townhomes or apartment buildings with retail – in designated growth areas while discouraging developments everywhere else. 

“This [Belle Mead] is exactly what the working group pointed to – like it or not,” McCarron said during the Tuesday meeting.

Belle Mead would have 125,000 square feet of commercial space and up to 334 apartments. Developer Capano Management agreed to set aside 15% of them as what the county says is affordable. That figure is up from the original 10% that Capano previously proposed.

The 40-acre property is adjacent to Beacon Middle School and across Route 24 from Love Creek Elementary School. It sits about 2 miles southwest of Route 1.

Sussex County residents packed into a county council meeting on Sept. 16, most to oppose an apartment and retail development on a property that county planners have targeted for growth. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY OLIVIA MARBLE

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In all, the development and the controversy surrounding it puts to the test the question of whether the working group’s vision for Sussex County is actually what residents want. 

“It looks great on paper, and it offers affordable housing and has great features,” said nearby resident Rosalind Mailander. “But you have to look at the cumulative effect on everything around us.”

Because the Sussex County Council delayed a vote on the proposal to rezone the Belle Meade property, the next time they could consider the issue is during their Nov. 4 meeting. 

Before then, council members will ask state transportation officials and environmental regulators questions about the project that residents brought up during the Tuesday meeting. 

Residents will then be able to comment on the agencies’ answers in about a month. 

‘Not the right place for it’

Among the arguments made by the Belle Mead opponents is that the existing traffic infrastructure in the area is inadequate to support the additional cars that the development would bring. 

During a nearly hourlong presentation to the county council on Tuesday, Judy Rose Seibert, who served as spokesperson for the Route 24 Alliance, presented  drone footage from March of a traffic jam on Route 24. 

Seibert argued that adding more residents to the area would worsen delays caused by the bottleneck along the corridor. While DelDOT plans to widen Route 24 west of Love Creek Bridge, there are no plans for the bridge itself to be widened. 

This Belle Mead project also would be the first approved under the C-4 zoning district. Therefore, the county council’s decision will set a precedent for what level of traffic congestion is acceptable for future applications, Seibert also said. 

Seibert said Sussex County does need more affordable housing, “but this is not the right place for it.” 

Seibert argued that any traffic improvements should be done before Belle Mead is completed. There is currently no date set to finish the Route 24 widening, while Belle Mead is slated to be completed in 2032.

But McCarron told Spotlight Delaware that road improvements are funded by new developments through a Transportation Improvement District. Without new developments, DelDOT would not have any money to move forward with these improvements.

Capano Management is slated to contribute about $2 million in traffic improvement fees, according to a Riemann’s presentation to the council. 

Michael Riemann (right), engineer with Becker Morgan Group, listens as the Sussex County Council on Sept. 16 discusses a development proposal brought by his client, Capano Management. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY OLIVIA MARBLE

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In response to traffic criticism, Michael Riemann, the principal engineer for Belle Mead, argued that the development would create less traffic problems than single-family home developments that are characteristic of the area. 

Belle Mead would have coffee shops, boutique-style retail and small medical offices that residents could walk to, said Riemann, whose firm Becker Morgan Group works for Capano Management. 

Another development controversy brewing?

Just east of the Belle Mead site, on the other side of Beacon Middle School, developer Southside Investment Partners plans to build a commercial park with 23 separate buildings, including a Costco, Whole Foods, and Target.

Dubbed Atlantic Fields, the development has also drawn the ire of neighbors. 

During public comment at the Tuesday council meeting, several residents said the development would be the source of yet another influx of traffic onto Route 24.

Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission held a hearing about rezoning the proposed site of Atlantic Fields on Sept. 17, but did not come to a decision. The Sussex County Council will have final say on whether to rezone the property.