Having been a resident of 34 Clubhouse Drive, Old Landing Woods for 10 years, I feel I am the most qualified person to give input regarding why the application from NV Homes at Osprey Point for a 25-slip marina and possible future restaurant must be denied. Our house was at the end of Clubhouse Drive, Old Landing Woods. We had over an acre of marsh, with enough upland to meet the setback requirements to build our house and construct a dock.
Even though there were many houses in our community that had access to the creek, our property was the only one with any navigable water. To enable us to navigate the creek, we purchased a very quiet airboat that had no draft at all. We were able to come and go at our leisure. We saw personal watercraft come exploring up the creek and get stuck in the mud before they reached our dock. There was an older gentleman who would use a pole, very quietly moving his flat-bottom skiff up the creek to catch minnows and muskrats.
As if this development isn’t enough, this marina, if approved, would put an end to preserving the natural habitat for the many animals and fish that inhabit the water and the wetland. In our tenure living on the creek, we would observe otters, deer, raccoons, foxes, muskrats, eagles, red-tail hawks, ospreys, kingfishers, fish and crabs. There was a kingfisher that took up residency on top of an old no-wake sign. We used to laugh at the possibility of there ever being a wake. Every year during the spring she would be missing, and then we would see baby kingfishers flying around. This will end abruptly if these permits are approved.
Each summer we would have several fish kills. The oxygen in the creek would be so low that hundreds of fish would die. At low tide, the banks would be covered with dead fish or dying fish flapping around. The only good thing about this is there would be hundreds of seagulls flying and squawking at the free meal. These fish kills would also occasionally happen in Rehoboth Beach Yacht & Country Club community. These events would be very appetizing for the diners at the proposed restaurant.
The presence of pfiesteria has been suspected in Rehoboth Bay and its tributaries, specifically in a July 2000 fish kill, and officials have said the microbe may have caused other outbreaks since that time.
For this marina to be built, there would have to be major dredging of Arnell Creek. On which side will the spoils be placed? The federal wetland and the state wetland delineation are usually not the same. There will be places they cross over one another as much as 10 feet or more. The federal wetland line takes precedence, and that is the marker for the setback from the wetlands.
Across the creek from Osprey Point there are two large parcels of farmland that have been sold for development. There will be hundreds of new homes built there. How much more can this creek take? Our upland is being deforested and chopped into as many lots as the developers manage to squeeze out of P&Z. The wetlands are being devastated, and they will never return to the way God made them.
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