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10 - CAPE GAZETFE, Friday, January 10 - January 16, 1997
Roadhouse/Outlets intersection tops Rt. I working group agenda
By Michael Short
The Rt. 1 working group will meet on
Thursday, Jan. 16 at the County Bank
Building on Rt. 1 near the main entrance to
Rehoboth Beach. The agenda will include a
discussion of proposed plans to change the
Roadhouse Intersection, considered one of
the most dangerous intersections in the
area.
Charter Oak Partners, the owners of the
Rehoboth Outlets, which includes the outlet
center directly across the road from the
Roadhouse, have proposed making several
changes to the intersection.
Charter Oak has said it is willing to pay
for those changes. The Rt. 1 working group
will consider those proposed plans and will
listen to a representative from Charter Oak
Partners, when the group meets on Jan. 16.
The proposed changes, which are not yet
definite, include two left turn lanes into the
center on Rt. 1 northbound. Those left turn
lanes would be located at the Roadhouse In-
tersection, which would be modified, and
the existing left turn lane from Rt. 1 north-
bound would be eliminated.
That Roadhouse Intersection between
Midway Shopping Center and the Re-
hoboth Outlets would be changed to be-
come a more standard intersection. Besides
removing the existing left turn lane from
Rt. 1 northbound, the turn from southbound
Rt. 1 into Colonial East would be eliminat-
ed. A major goal of the proposals is to pre-
vent traffic turning into Rehoboth Outlets
from backing up on to Rt. 1 by creating
longer left turn lanes into the outlet mall.
The left turn southbound into Colonial
East, which would be eliminated, has been
a somewhat touchy subject.
Steve Class of Colonial East said that
many of the residents in that park are not
happy with the suggestion and he notes that
the existing left turn lane into the area was
part of an agreement previously reached
with Delaware's Department of Transporta-
tion (DelDOT).
"We just feel there is a better way," Class
said. "They feel it will be a tremendously
dangerous situation." Class said that most
of the residents he spoke with are unhappy
and are worried about traffic safety. But a
few do support the proposals, he said.
Ray Pusey, a recently retired DelDOT
employee said the state has a chance to im-
prove a hazardous area and should make
sure it reviews any and all options before
making any definite decisions on how to
improve the area.
DelDOT officials say no definite deci-
sions have been made, but they also say
they would like to have something in place
before next summer so they do not have to
go through another summer with nothing
being done to improve the safety of the in-
tersection.
There are other issues on the agenda for
the Jan. 16 meeting and the public is wel-
come to attend the 7 p.m. meeting. Eli
Cooper has been studying Rt. 1 and how
safety of the area can be improved. That
study is designed to create an "ultimate so-
lution" to the traffic problems of the road-
way. Cooper will be giving an update on
the status of his study at the meeting. Coop-
er, who serves as assistant director of trans-
portation services development in Dei-
DOT's planning section, is still gathering
data.
The idea for that study grew out of dis-
cussions of access roads and other ways to
improve the roadway, which has rapidly be-
come a favorite topic of discussion among
Sussex residents.
"It's going to be quite an undertaking,"
Cooper said in an October interview. "We
would like for this process to be an interac-
tive one with this committee...We are
blessed that there's a lot of formal structure
already in place. It's a real opportunity for
the department as well as the community to
shape the plan together."
New legislator urges capping rainy day fund to pay sewer costs
By Michael Short the Rainy Day Fund to the Waste- grants of the excess dollars." dollars, Schroeder estimated, such projects. "We have this huge
Shirley Price (D-Millville) is al-
ready making legislative waves.
The newly elected Price has
proposed capping Delaware's
"Rainy Day Fund" and using the
extra money to help fund water
and sewer infrastructure through-
out the state. That's been a major
Sussex issue of the last few years
and Price has already gathered the
support of Sen. Bob Voshell (D-
Milford), Rep. George Bunting
(D-Bethany Beach) and Rep. John
Schroeder (D-Lewes).
All three have agreed to be
cosponsors of the legislation, but
Price is the primary sponsor.
Price couldn't be reached
Thursday afternoon, but Schroed-
er said the legislation could poten-
tially help residents of the West
Rehoboth Sewer District. The ex-
cess money would be moved from
water Advisory Council where it
could be used for grants or loans.
Schroeder said that West Re-
hoboth should have the highest
priority to receive grants or loans
because the cost of the sewer dis-
trict and the cost to the residents is
the highest. But he also said that
the legislation isn't expected to
generate much money initially.
In years to come, he expects the
payoff to be substantial.
"I proposed to cap the Rainy
Day Fund at $100 million," Price
said in a prepared statement. "I
propose that excess funds be used
to help our communities to exist
and grow safely by providing a
healthy way to dispose of waste,
while protecting the environment
and help with the financing of wa-
ter systems. Help would come in
the form of low interest loans and
"Now is the time for Delaware
to come to the aide of Delaware-
ans; to protect their health and
safety," she continued. "We must
address this problem now as it is
one that will not go away. This
problem affects not only the pock-
etbooks and health of our citizens,
but also our precious natural re-
sources--the fragile environment
that our visitors and our citizens
enjoy--the environment that is
costly to restore, when restoration
is possible."
Here's the way the system will
work. Delaware's Rainy Day
Fund is a line item in every year's
budget. Money is set aside yearly
for the fund, a legislative effort
that was designed to help put
Delaware on fiscally sound
ground. That fund has now grown
to between $90 and 100 million
When it reaches $100 million, it
would be capped and the addition-
al money moved to the Rainy Day
Fund. The fund itself was set up to
assist with a state economic prob-
lem and it has a number of safe-
guards to keep legislators from
eyeing it and spending it too easi-
ly. Schroeder said it could be
used, for example, in case the
state couldn't finish the budget
because the economy went bad
and revenues fell sharply. "It is a
true Rainy Day Fund."
The rain never came and the
fund was never used. But
Schroeder thinks the situation is
serious enough to use the Rainy
Day Fund. He notes that one study
shows $500 million in water and
sewer needs in Delaware in the
next 15 years. He said there is no
federal grant funding anymore for
$500 million nut," Schroeder said.
While addressing those needs,
Schroeder, a banking executive,
was very quick to add that main-
taining $100 million in the Rainy
Day Fund should be enough to
help deal with emergencies which
might arise.
The fund would still be enough
to deal with any "Rainy Days"
and any potential legislation must
be crafted very carefully to satisfy
investment bankers, Wall Street
and other assorted financial types
that Delaware reminds on a very
secure financial footing, he said.
While supporting this bill,
Schroeder hasn't given up on an-
other idea to fund sewer projects.
He would like to see some money
raised by slot machines dedicated
to sewer and water infrastructure
and expects to pursue that issue.
Edgehill rezoning request draws support and concerns at hearing
By Dennis Forney construction on the property was consid- ground floor retail because that's what our which he said would help the whole neigh-
Preston Dyer pointed to language in the
Lewes Long Range Plan to support his case
for a rezoning of the Edgehill drugstore
property in Lewes.
"A provision in the plan says that the
town may have to be willing to allow ex-
pansion of some non-conforming commer-
cial uses if its residents are to be able to
continue to enjoy services in town without
having to go out to Rt. 1 in the future.
That's what we're proposing here. My
client [Edgehill Drugs Inc.] needs to ex-
pand and upgrade its Savannah Road store
to keep up with the times and serve its cus-
tomers." Dyer made his case during a pub-
lic hearing held Tuesday, Jan. 7. The hear-
ing focused on Edgehill's request to rezone
its 1.27 acres where its store is located from
Community Facilities District to C-1 com-
mercial.
The rezoning request drew support from
a number of neighbors, including Beebe
Medical Center. The small crowd gathered
for the hearing - including 10 residents of
town - however, also expressed concern
about potential traffic and parking prob-
lems.
Lewes Councilman Tony Pratt said that
traffic and parking concerns would best be
considered when the site plan for proposed
ered. At the urging of Lewes resident Mike
Tyler, Lewes Council members agreed to
have Lewes Planning Commission consider
the project if the rezoning is approved and
before construction would begin.
"I agree that the Planning Commission
should have the opportunity to review this
project and make recommendations," said
Councilman Jim Ford.
"If this is right for the town," said Tyler,
"let's do it right. Let's consider the cumu-
lative impact of projects like these and give
the developers the right path to follow."
If the rezoning is approved, Edgehill
would be able to raze its current 6,800
square foot drug store and build a new
36,000 square foot facility which would in-
clude a 12,000 square foot street level drug
store and a number of doctors offices in
what it is calling the Lewes Medical Arts
Building.
Blake Thompson, president of EdgehilI
Drugs, said Edgehill would sign an agree-
ment with Lewes limiting all commercial
development on the property, other than of-
rices, to the 12,000 square foot drug store.
"What we're proposing is certainly a better
looking building than what's there and no
doubt will serve the community for many
years to come. We're willing to limit to
business is."
Vote coming Monday
The rezoning request is scheduled to be
considered at the Monday, Jan. 13 meeting
of Lewes Council. If approved, the pro-
posed new building would still need plan-
ning commission review and building in-
spector approval before it could go forward.
The building height was increased above
the legal commercial limit to satisfy con-
cerns raised by the city's Commercial Ar-
chitecture Review Commission and would
also require a variance from the Board of
Adjustment to go forward.
Councilman Jim Ford said he didn't feel
the plans needed another review by the
Commercial Architecture Review Commis-
sion since they haven't changed since that
group gave its approval.
Beebe Medical Center President Jeff
Fried presented a letter at the hearing in
support of the rezoning. He said several
meetings and studies have led Beebe Med-
ical Center to believe that the rezoning and
proposed project would not impact traffic
patterns at Beebe Medical Center. He
added that Edgehill has offered to dedicate
some of the parking spaces in a two-decked
parking area for Beebe Medical Center
borhood. He said he felt the proposed facil-
ity would benefit patients by being so close
to Beebe Medical Center and that it would
also aid in Beebe's recruitment efforts for
new physicians. "Anything that makes it
more attractive for physicians to consider
relocating to Lewes should be considered a
benefit to the community as well as Beebe
Medical Center," wrote Fried.
This is an artist's rendering of the
Lewes Medical Arts Building. The
top drawing shows the building as it
would face Beebe Medical Center.
The bottom shows the Savannah
Road face of the building.