Reprinted with the permission of Delaware State
News
Frederica project has support, questions
Town officials see more tax revenue, some residents see more
traffic
By Bruce Pringle
Delaware State News FREDERICA — “If you don’t expand,” Mayor
William “Chick” Glanden says, “you’ll get expanded on.” Rather
than see fields next to the town turned into communities that
would bring Frederica more traffic but no additional tax revenue,
Town Council annexed hundreds of acres along Del. 12 last year.
Now, most of that land is to become part of one of the more
ambitious developments in Delaware. A Pennsylvania company
proposes to build 942 homes—about three times as many as now
in Frederica—and a collection of stores and offices north of
the highway, opposite where Del. 12 is met by Carpenter Bridge
Road. Bolis Properties of King of Prussia, PA, plans to call
the community Spring Hall.
Mayor Glanden calls it the potential source of tax dollars
to pay for the police department Frederica needs but cannot
afford. Some residents near the project site call it the potential
source of traffic nightmares. “Very upsetting, I think,” said
Terri Strickland, who lives on Carpenter Bridge Road, just
south of the intersection. “The road doesn’t support that.
It’s very busy anyway.” In a meeting of Delaware’s Preliminary
Land Use Service last week, a state planner, David Edgell,
urged the town and Kent County to work closely with Delaware
Department of Transportation officials. For DelDOT, Spring
Hall would be just one of a number of developments adding to
the burdens of Del. 12 and other rural roads in southern Kent
County. For Chris and Jenn Gillespie, it would be a dramatic
new sight from the house on Del. 12 where they are raising
two children, one age 7 and the other less than a year old.
“I like the quiet out here,” and losing it would not be worth
the convenience of having stores nearby, Ms. Gillespie said.
“It’s peaceful. I’d love it to stay that way.” They live west
of the town. Their side of the road was not included in the
annexation. Inside Frederica proper, Mayor Glanden said, the
prospect of nearly 1,000 more homes has drawn no opposition
at town meetings. Fifteen-year-old Frederica resident Rykeem
Sample has an idea about what more homes and more kids would
do for the town… “It would liven it up a little more,” she
stated.
Regardless of Spring Hall’s effect on the world outside the
258 acres it would occupy, it would offer its own residents
features that won praise from state officials: parks, walking
trails, streets wide enough to accommodate bicyclists as well
as motorists, sidewalks throughout the community, and alleys
behind homes. “We’re proud of Frederica for working so hard
to ensure such amenities are provided,” Mr. Edgell said. “I
think you’ve done a lot of great work to get to this point.”
Gary W. Bolis Jr., president of Bolis Properties, said Frederica’s
rules encourage development that puts residents within walking
distance of jobs and stores, as Spring Hall’s combination of
homes and businesses would do. The town also permits development
dense enough to keep prices within reach of the first-time
homebuyers Mr. Bolis said he expects to attract. Home prices,
he said, likely will range from $165,000 for town houses to
$ 250,000 for larger single, detached homes. “It’s a walkable
community, and energy efficiency—perhaps including solar power—will
be emphasized, Mr. Bolis said. “We’re really focused on green
technology.”
Bolis Properties developed Odessa National Golf Club in southern
New Castle County and is planning residential developments
in Milford and on Barratts Chapel Road, south of Dover. On
Monday, Bolis Properties got Milford Planning Commission’s
endorsement of plans for a shopping center at Del. 1 and Del.
30. In Frederica, future developments such as Spring Hall should
reflect the look of the existing community, said Ryan Mawhinney,
a planner who serves as a consultant to the town. That means,
for example, front porches and sidewalks. “We know it’s a lot
of houses (planned for Spring Hall). We’re trying to mitigate
that through good design,” he said.
Still to be answered is how many trees will fall in the creation
of Spring Hall. Plans submitted to the state showed that of
63 acres of forested land, 32 acres would be cleared. Ring
W. Lardner, an engineering representing Bolis Properties, said
that is the “ worst case” figure and more of the woods could
be spared as the design of the project progresses. Construction
is to begin in 2011. Frederica officials secured a commitment
that 15,000 square feet— roughly a third of an acre—at Spring
Hall will be donated for the town’s use. “Eventually, it will
probably be a new town hall and/or police station,” Mayor Glanden
said. “ We will be getting a police department, I can guarantee
you that. Right now, the town just can’t afford it.” But a
quadrupling of the tax base would change that. And the arrival
of stores in a town that has few of them could change life,
as locals know it. “It’s definitely going to be a plus for
the town,” Mayor Glanden said. “There’s going to be traffic;
I understand that. But life is constant change. Either you
grow or you die.”
