Developer wants Nassau rezoning withdrawn
The developer of a controversial apartment complex north of Lewes has asked Sussex County Council to withdraw its pending rezoning application. The request is included on council's Tuesday, Sept. 24 agenda.
Nassau DE Acquisition Co. LLC had filed to rezone a 15-acre parcel near the intersection of Route 1 and Old Mill Road from AR-1, agricultural-residential, and C-2, medium commercial, to HR-1, high-density residential district-residential planned community.
The proposed project called for a small office building and 168 apartments, including at least 21 units of affordable housing under the county’s affordable rental program.
By a 3-2 vote at its July 18 meeting, Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended approval of the rezoning.
Several nearby residents testified against the application, citing traffic and neighborhood compatibility concerns.
Resident George Dillinger said the withdrawal should discourage future speculators from commercializing AR-1 land and environmentally sacred parcels on the eastern side of Route 1.
“Old Mill communities have been successful in fighting commercialization and environmental encroachment for the last 15 years,” he said. “We are among the last AR-1 communities within 10 miles of the ocean and should be a showpiece by the county in preserving what our founding fathers intended.”
This was the second project proposed for the parcel. On Nov. 29, 2018, the commission recommended approval of rezoning applications for two parcels for a 4,700-square-foot office building and 150 apartments.
Then on Dec. 11, county council members approved the commercial rezoning application for the office but denied the medium-density residential rezoning for the apartments, saying land on the east side of Route 1 should remain low density.
In 2014, council denied a conditional-use application for a storage facility on a different parcel along Old Mill Road. In 2004, council denied a proposed 20-unit apartment complex in the same area.
