Newcomers Club hosts officials on topic of
By Karl Chalabala
A group of elected officials, candidates and citizens gathered at the home of Joan Deaver, Aug. 25, to discuss the pressing growth effecting the eastern side of
The discussion revolved around the power Sussex County Council exerts over land-use in the county.
“They really do have the power,” said Sen. Gary Simpson, R-Milford. “They can use it wisely or unwisely and in my opinion they have been using it unwisely. [Legislators] have very little say when it comes to land-use issues. I’m not condemning everything that has happened in the last six years. I’m just not sure they have that long-range vision for the county.”
Councilman George Cole offered a popular idea with the attendees to hold the council more accountable. As a majority of the council’s electorate comes from western
Cole suggested running countywide would solve this problem.
“I think we should come out of districts and run county-wide,” he said. “If no one shows up, they approve development. We approved 6,000 building permits last year. There are very few counties in the nation that approve 6,000 building permits. Special interests have the ear of the county, meaning developers. It needs to change. We can ruin your neighborhood. The system doesn’t work anymore. We should run county-wide.”
The attendees, including representatives from several watch-dog groups, applauded the suggestion. However, Simpson said the possibility of an at-large council seemed slim.
“I introduced legislation, which [Rep.] Pete [Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth] cosponsored and it never came out of committee.”
“They use to say there was a north-south thing,” Schwartzkopf said. “But now its an east-west thing. Why? On the west side of the county you have Sen. Thurman Adams, [D-Bridgeville] who is pro-tem in the senate, with 22 years of experience, Sen. Robert Venables [D-Laurel] with 20 years, and Rep. Tina Fallon [R-Seaford], who has been in for a long time and Rep. Biff Lee, [R-Laurel] who is majority whip of the house. On the east side you have me for two years, Gary [Simpson] for six years and Rep. Joe Booth, [R-Georgetown] for two years. Who are people going to listen to?”
The Newcomers Club, an Ocean View “smart growth” organization, wants to take 1,000 people to the county council steps and demand the council listen to them.
Deaver invited the Newcomers Club to speak about organizing a Newcomers Club in northern coastal
“If we take 1,000 people to
The Newcomers, named for people new to the county, receive financial backing from a developer - Gulfstream Homes.
“I understand that may turn some of you off,” Nippes said. “Until I’m convinced there is an ulterior motive, we are going to stay with them.”
Newcomer founder Joe Aquilla said he did not want the name to dissuade long-time residents or natives.
“We don’t care whether you moved here two years or 40 years ago,” he said. “We don’t care what side of the county you came from. We only want intelligent solutions to our problems. Everyone is welcome.”
One solution brought up concerns not grandfathering in all commercial properties at 12 units per acres, which county council indicated they intended to do. The council argued the downzoning would be a taking.
“All of Route 113 from Millsboro to Selbyville is zoned commercial,” Cole said. “Right now it’s mostly corn fields, but it can be built out at 12 units per acre.”
“Downzoning is not a taking,” said Jud Bennett, who is running against Lynn Rogers for the 3rd Councilmanic seat.
Another issue brought up before the candidates was traffic.
Schwartzkopf said things will not be fixed until the
“Traffic has increased 16 percent since last year,” he said. “But you can’t really tell. The fixes we implemented made a big difference. But until you start at the entrance at Rehoboth, and go north and south from there, nothing will be fixed.”
The gathering concluded with Pat Torelli of the Citizens Coalition advocating all the residents of
“No one understand how important it is to be there,” she said.
