Long Neck project aimed at seniors
A developer plans to construct an age-restricted apartment complex in Long Neck as part of an ongoing project on Route 24 at Route 5.
Commercial development – including a new Wawa and Rite Aid pharmacy – has already been completed.
Carillon Square Apartments LLC has filed a complex rezoning application that begins with downzoning 8.6 acres from commercial, C-1, to agricultural-residential, AR-1. A second rezoning calls for upzoning from AR-1 and C-1 to high-density residential, HR-1, for a 17-acre parcel. Plans for The Grove at Carillon Woods include 204 townhomes on 27 acres, a density of 7.5 units to an acre.
Proposed amenities for the 55-plus community include a clubhouse, fitness center, four-seasons pool, dog park, walking path, sidewalks, community garden and pickleball, bocce and shuffleboard courts.
The proposed site plan was modified to preserve more than eight acres of woodlands in the southern section of the site, said applicant engineer Zac Crouch with Davis, Bowen and Friedel. He said the woods would be preserved and never developed; a walking trail would be built around the perimeter.
“This is better land use,” said applicant attorney Gene Bayard. “It's less impact than the previous plan and is sensitive to the woodlands.”
“That's the payoff in this plan,” said Commission Chairman Bob Wheatley during the Jan. 14 public hearing. “And they can't break the parcel apart; that is the attraction to this proposal.”
When asked to clarify the proposed zoning on the parcel by Commissioner Mike Johnson, Bayard replied that the two zones – AR-1 for the 8.6-acre wooded section and HR-1 for the 17-acre developed section – provide clarity for the the future of the site. Currently, the parcel includes three different zones.
“It's in character with development in the Long Neck area and is supported by the Delaware State Housing Authority,” Bayard said.
An entranceway off Route 5 has already been constructed as access to the commercial area. The project would have interconnection streets tied into the commercial area with access to Route 24. Crouch said the original traffic impact study for the parcel was done in 2006 and reviewed in 2013 by state transportation officials. He said the developer would be responsible for financial contribution to road improvements at the Route 24-Route 5 intersection and would provide a 25-foot right-of-way to Delaware Department of Transportation along Route 24.
The commission deferred on a vote; no one spoke in opposition to the applications. At its Jan. 28 meeting, the commission once again deferred on a vote.
Johnson said he was hesitant to make a motion because he wanted more time to determine what impact the project would have on future projects in the Long Neck area. "It could open the floodgates. We always have to be mindful of that," he said.
County council's public hearing has not been scheduled.
SUSSEX ZONING
AR-1. As the base zone, most unincorporated land in the county is zoned AR-1. The residential-agricultural zone allows for two units per acre.
C-1. Many uses are permitted in the county's general commercial zoning district including most types of businesses, hotels, motels, amusement centers and offices.
HR-1. The zone allows high-density residential development with up to 12 units per acre.
