Another sprawling retail monstrosity situated at the entrance to Lewes and Rehoboth was (shockingly) voted down by the sprawl happy Sussex County Council.
Sussex County Council has denied a rezoning request for a 114-acre parcel of farmland that would have paved the way for Overbrook Town Center, the largest shopping center ever proposed in Sussex County.
Council voted 4-1 to deny the rezoning request by TD Rehoboth LLC, a Timonium, Md., developer.
A couple of things:
1) These things are never truly dead. We all know that, right?
2) I love how they call it a “town center” as if there is some kind of planing going on. What a load of crap. Does anybody see anything that looks like a town in that picture?
When Wilson cast the third and deciding vote, the large crowd erupted into wild applause. He said the county has lost a lot of farmland and the highways are already crowded.
Also voting no was Councilwoman Joan Deaver, who noted the parcel is surrounded by farmland and in proximity to the Great Marsh. She said the requested CR-1 zoning was not appropriate. “There is nothing in the county that would compare with this,” she said. “It exceeds anything else on Route 1 … It doesn’t promote the orderly growth of Sussex County.”
“We are not voting for a shopping center, but the many uses permitted under CR-1 zoning,” Deaver said.
Councilman Mike Vincent also opposed rezoning, as did Councilman George Cole, who said it was not appropriate to place the most intense land use in such close proximity with the least intensive land use in the county.
Vincent said he supports property rights to a point. “My property rights should not affect your property rights,” he said.
Councilman Rob Arlett was the only vote in favor of the plan. “If you can’t put commercial along a federal highway, where can you put it?” he asked.
