Angola residents deserve credit in Royal Farms fight

The infamous Angola Royal Farms application was officially withdrawn Sept. 5, after a few months of rumors of withdrawal, raising gleeful shouts from every corner of the Angola area.  

I want Sussex County residents and voters to know how this application galvanized Angola residents and made them stronger. They formed the Route 24 Alliance to keep the group together even for future fights. They also observed politics in Sussex County and are getting engaged in the election.

This fight was not the Angola residents’ first rodeo: they successfully won the case against a 7-Eleven gas station proposal in 2018 and 2019. Winning the denial of 7-Eleven resulted in the formation of the Sussex2030 grassroots group in 2020. 

So, when the Royal Farms application was submitted in 2022, residents were once again enraged and engaged. What this group did was more than amazing. They:

• Quickly organized multiple research groups and met frequently to exchange their research notes and to inform residents
• Performed a comprehensive review and analysis of the county's zoning laws and concluded that a gas station based on a conditional use in the AR-1, agricultural/residential, zoning district/Coastal Area is precluded 
• Took out full-page ads in the Cape Gazette
• Sent 180 opposition comments to P&Z with facts from their in-depth research 
• Sent numerous letters to the Cape Gazette
• Collected nearly 1,500 signatures on a petition to be submitted at the public hearing 

• Met with DelDOT and voiced their concerns 
• Reviewed the preliminary traffic impact study and pointed out the deficiencies and inaccuracies of the study to DelDOT and P&Z
• Fought against the Royal Farms' website that was built specifically to promote this application
• Planned presentations and demonstrations in preparation for the public hearings.

The P&Z public hearing scheduled to be held in April was postponed due to DelDOT not being able to finalize the TIS. So, the group went into a holding pattern, ready to take action at any time. While the rumors of withdrawal started floating around in early summer, the Route 24 Alliance never let the guard down until the withdrawal became official.

As Route 24 Alliance celebrates the withdrawal of Angola Royal Farms, I heard some residents in District 3 got a mailer from the developer-backed Preserve Sussex political action committee saying the latest win of the council incumbent and candidate Mark Schaeffer was preventing the Angola Royal Farms. I would argue that, as outlined above, the public played a substantial role in persuading Royal Farms to withdraw its application. By the way, Preserve Sussex PAC is not the same as Sussex Preservation Coalition, a coalition of groups fighting to preserve the quality of life for all Sussex residents. 

Finally, I'd like to thank the public, including Route 24 Alliance, for its incredible amount of work and vigorous opposition to a gas station at this unsuitable (factually and legally) location. Let's take a well-deserved break and get ready for whatever comes next along the Route 24 corridor.