SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. — State agencies, including DelDOT and DNREC, along with Sussex County Council members, have weighed in on an application to rezone land for a mixed-use development known as Cool Spring Crossing. With public comment now closed and the developer having responded, county council may make a decision sometime next year.
The proposed development would include more than 1,900 homes, along with a grocery store, YMCA, hotel, restaurants and other retail space, drawing hundreds of public comments both for and against the project.
“I mean, it’s a town bigger than Lewes,” said Alison White, who lives nearby and worries about the scale of the development and its potential impact on traffic.
“DelDOT isn’t going to come in and save them by putting up; by building roads,” White said. “They don’t have the money and they don’t know how to do it.”
In July, the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously, 4-0, to recommend approval of development.
Supporters argue the project would address a critical housing shortage in Sussex County. Sussex County Habitat for Humanity CEO Kevin Gilmore said the plan’s workforce housing component could be transformative.
“This plan, this community with one single decision, could have a tremendous impact on workforce housing in the area,” Gilmore said. “They’re planning 700 workforce housing units, and there’s never been a decision — one single decision — that had that kind of impact on creating affordable housing here in Sussex County.”
Earlier this month, DelDOT confirmed that Northstar, another mixed-use project planned for Route 9, was not included in Cool Spring Crossing’s traffic impact study because Northstar was not approved by the county when the Cool Spring traffic impact study letter was finished. The agency said the study identified 22 suggested improvements, including intersection, entrance and pedestrian upgrades.
The applicant, Carl. M Freeman Companies, has previously said that if the mixed-use proposal is denied, they could still build more than 1,200 single-family homes under current zoning rules, though that plan would not include commercial amenities or workforce housing.
No timeline has been announced for when county council will vote on Cool Spring Crossing.