Ongoing concerns about traffic safety and congestion, driven in large part by ongoing development in the Millsboro area, were repeatedly in the spotlight at Monday night’s Millsboro Town Council meeting.
During a public hearing to review a request for preliminary approval of a major subdivision for the proposed Towne Lakes development, area residents raised concerns about the potential for traffic safety issues for the roadways near where developers propose to build 450 new housing units.
For Gloria Duffy — who, along with her siblings, inherited her mother’s adjacent property and whose family still farms land nearby — the development is indicative of a broader changing landscape, one that no longer looks familiar to those who grew up in the area. And she worries about her neighbors, some of whom have lived for generations in what was once a very rural community.
“Now I can’t even get out of my driveway,” the former school nurse said, explaining that the community along Handy Road — which the development would abut — was historically a minority community.
“This is not local anymore,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with coming from the outside, but we need a safety net.”
The development, which has been in the works for years and received preliminary site plan approval in 2023, is slated for a property off Handy Road behind the Peninsula Shopping Crossing shopping center, and would include 330 single-family homes and 120 garden-apartment units. Developers declined to estimate how much those homes and apartments would be sold for when ultimately built, noting that it’s still early in the planning phases. Developers include Preston Dyer and Joseph Reed, who have been behind other Sussex County projects, such as Milton’s Cannery Village.
With several residents voicing disapproval of the project, as well as tough lines of questioning from at least two council members related to plans for entrances and exits at the site, the Millsboro council members all voted on Monday to table a decision. (Council Members Robert McKee and Ron O’Neal were not present at Monday’s meeting.)
The developers’ attorney, John Paradee, warned the council that a denial of the preliminary subdivision plan could be considered “arbitrary and capricious,” since what the developers presented met the Town’s zoning and code requirements, as well as other agency requirements, he said. Paradee noted that council didn’t have the discretion “to just say no for reasons based on speculation...”
Town Manager Jamie Burk said the preliminary subdivision request will be on the council’s March meeting agenda. If the subdivision plan is approved, and ultimately receives all the other final approvals the development requires, it would likely be at least two and a half to three years before those units would go to market, developers told the Coastal Point.
The council later moved on to a discussion about whether to even keep the “Residential Planned Community” (RPC) zoning designation — which applies to the Towne Lakes development and allows higher-density projects, such as apartments, on the books at all for future applications — or if it needs changes. That conversation is expected to continue at future meetings.
“I think we’ve had enough of RPCs,” said Councilman Marty Presley. “Do we want to continue? Or dissuade developers [from] buying up the little bit of farmland we have left and throw houses up?”
Plantation Lakes woes
In addition to a variety of traffic congestion-related complaints linked to the Towne Lakes development, one resident also came armed to Monday’s meeting with a “show-and-tell” display.
During the three-hour-plus meeting, a jar of dirty water sat on the end of the council members’ dais, slowly separating as vomit-colored sediment settled to the bottom of the container. It, along with other samples in test tubes, was brought to the meeting by a Plantation Lakes resident who complained about “excessive sediment in the water lines.”
On Tuesday morning, Burk clarified that the resident had obtained the sample when he drained his hot-water heater and that the sediment is likely iron-related. He said the resident was trying to encourage others to make sure they maintain their water heaters as needed. Burk said it’s not uncommon to have iron in the water occasionally, due to the nature of the deep, underground aquifer that serves the town’s drinking-water sources.
Problems with access at Plantation Lakes during last month’s snowstorm also prompted discussions of where to implement additional “no parking” areas for snow removal on town roads during snow emergency events. That discussion also is ongoing.
An annexation and a (possible) new meeting date
Council members on Monday unanimously approved the idea of annexing another property into town limits, expanding the existing footprint of Intervet’s Merck Animal Health facility along the Indian River.
The roughly 3-acre parcel will be used as a parking lot and storage space, according to documents submitted by the company. No one from Intervet was present at Monday’s meeting. The Town will schedule a public hearing for the public to provide feedback on the annexation request.
Millsboro officials are also considering moving the date of the town council’s monthly meeting from the first Monday of the month to the second Monday of the month. However, changing the meeting date would require a charter change, meaning any change to a meeting date won’t happen quickly. The idea was tabled to gather more feedback from the town staff and treasurer.