Project planned for 539-acre parcel west of Lewes

One of the largest residential-commercial developments in eastern Sussex County history is under state agency review through the Preliminary Land Use Service process.

Carl M. Freeman Companies has plans to develop Cool Spring, a 539-acre parcel off Route 9 between Lewes and Harbeson, which also encompasses both sides of Log Cabin Hill Road and Cool Spring Road, and the east side of Hudson Road.

Included in the plans are 2,000 residential units, 77,100 square feet of commercial and 86,000 square feet of mixed residential and commercial.

A conceptual plan, filed with state planners, includes a 60,000-square-foot YMCA, 40,000-square-foot grocery store, 12,000-square-foot clubhouse, and 14,000-square-foot hotel with another 37,100 square feet of mixed residential and office space. Apartments, rentals, townhomes, single-family homes, duplexes and villas are planned.

The developer will eventually have to file for a rezoning from AR-1, agricultural-residential, to MR-RPC, medium-density residential planned community with Sussex County. No public hearings have yet been scheduled before Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission and Sussex County Council.

The parcel includes 181 acres of woodlands and 30 acres of non-tidal wetlands. According to the developer's PLUS application, 83 acres of woods will be cut down. Open space, including parks, green spaces, woods and wetlands, totals 134 acres, or 25 percent of the site.

If approved and built out, the project would generate 32,293 vehicle trips on an average weekday.

According to the application, the developer would allow staff from the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office to visit the site to determine whether or not historical or cultural resources are on the parcel.

State agencies typically submit their comments within three to four weeks after the initial PLUS meeting with the developer.

Carl M. Freeman Companies, founded in 1947, has developed several communities in southeastern Sussex County, including its flagship Bayside in Fenwick Island, Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View and Sea Colony in Bethany Beach. The company has started focusing on the Lewes area as developers of Tidewater on Robinsonville Road and Tower Hill on New Road. Construction is underway at Tidewater with 195 single-family home lots, and site work is underway at Tower Hill with 292 single-family home lots.