Small Town News

Sussex council wants more information on Wilde Woods entrance

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Mt. Joy-area project would provide workforce housing

The developer of a proposed workforce housing project-off Mt. Joy Road between Long Neck and Millsboro still has no answer from county officials on his application for a zoning change. Without a recommendation from the planning and zoning commission, county council could not act on a request filed by Harry Caswell Inc. for a residential-planned community on 23 acres behind the village of Mt. Joy.

Planning and zoning commissioners are scheduled to make a recommendation during a Thursday, Aug. 12 meeting.

Council wouldn't have voted anyway following the Tuesday, July 27 public hearing because council members want more information about the access road to the proposed 37-lot development. Oak Street, which is privately owned, would be repaired and repaved by the developer, but when county attorney J. Everett Moore asked who would maintain the street, no one had an answer. The public record will be left open to obtain information concerning street maintenance.

Heidi Gilmore, attorney for the applicant, said the development, Wilde Woods, has been endorsed by the county's community development office because of a need for moderately priced housing. The homes would be priced under $200,000.

Gilmore noted that zoning would allow for four units per acre, but the developer is proposing fewer than 2 units per acre.

The requested zoning change from a general-residential district to a residential-planned community would let the developer offer smaller building lots, said Gary Cuppels, a professional planner and president of Environmental Consultants International in Rehoboth Beach. The average size lot would be 8,100 square feet. He said the parcel is mostly wooded, and about 50 percent of the trees would be left uncut.

Cuppels disputed the designation by the state that the parcel is contained in a Level 4 area where the state discourages development. He pointed to the existing Mt. Joy village and the designation of Mt. Joy Road as a major collector road by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT). "There is even a reduced speed limit through the village," he said.

DelDOT has issued a letter of no objection to the development.

Cuppels said buffers of 55 feet around a tax ditch and 30 feet around the rest of the perimeter of the development are planned. The development would have central sewer and water systems provided by a private company.

On July 7, county officials received a petition signed by 56 people in opposition to the application.

During the July 27.council public hearing, Anthony Daisey said three crashes had occurred on Mt. Joy Road in July with one fatality. "There are no shoulders on the road, and you can't walk along it," he said. He said he would like to see better roads and other infrastructure in place before more development would be approved. He also said the addition of $200,000 homes in an area of modest, small single-family and manufactured homes would not mix well.





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