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Shopping
center plan runs
into a barrage of flak
Woodlawn
Trustees, the perennial good guys of land management in the
Concord Pike corridor, found itself in an unaccustomed position
-- on the receiving end of near-solid opposition to its latest
development proposal.
The nonprofit conservation
organization cut a deal with the Stoltz real estate organization
to develop the 43.5-acre tract on the southwest corner of the
Concord Pike-Naamans and Beaver Valley Roads intersection for a
regional shopping center. The site, which Woodlawn has owned
since 1925, is one of the remaining two large tracts along the
pike that have not been put to commercial use.
Representatives of neighboring
business interests, a national corporation and community
organizations in the vicinity, along with two county councilmen,
told a public hearing conducted by the Planning Board on behalf
of itself and the Department of Land Use that they want to keep
it that way.
A department report concerning
its initial review of an exploratory filing listed 28 points to
be resolved before the plan can advance to the next step in the
approval process, leading off with a comment that proposed
rezoning of the property "may be considered inappropriate at
this time."
The only favorable testimony at
the hearing on Oct. 2 came from supporters of a national chain
of health-food grocery stores which has been identified as the
prospective lead tenant in the shopping center and a business
owner who views commercialization as inevitable.
Planning board chairman
Victor Singer said the purpose of the hearing was merely to
gather information and the public's views as the department
conducts an exploratory review of the proposal. The board will
not make a recommendation at this point. Still to come, at an
undetermined future time, will be the bid to rezone the
property, now designated as residential, for commercial use.
County Council will have the final say on rezoning if the plan
advances that far.
Woodlawn's lawyer, Pam Scott,
said development of the site is necessary to generate income to
finance the organization's low-rent housing activities in
Wilmington. Asked by Planning Board member Sandra Anderson if
residential development would serve that purpose, Scott replied,
"From our perspective it did not make sense to do that on this
site." Pressed further, she acknowledged that she was talking
about "economic sense."
The strongest objection was
lodged by Jaynine Warner on behalf of A.I.G. Marketing, a
national insurance firm which has its offices across Beaver
Valley road from the Woodlawn site. She described the Woodlawn
plan as "a business risk for us" and said that, if it comes to
be, the company will consider taking its 1,000-person workforce
elsewhere.
Most of the objections at the
hearing centered on the likelihood of significantly increased
traffic in an already congested area.
Scott explained that an unusual
north-south and east-west bisecting of the site by what would be
public roads was included in the plan at the behest of the
Delaware Department of Transportation as a way to alleviate
further traffic woes. Also provided are two traffic circles and
an exit onto Ramsey Road.
Left turns from southbound
Concord Pike onto Naamans Road and from northbound Concord Pike
onto Beaver Valley Road would be eliminated and drivers would
have to loop through either the new shopping center or the
existing Brandywine Town Center to make those movements.
Referring to that as a permanent detour, Charles Landry,
president of the Council of Civic Organizations of Brandywine
Hundred, said it would be an expedient "detached from reality
... that has never been done before."
Tricia Gamello and Ellen Reed,
testifying in tandem, said they supported the plan because it
would bring a Whole Foods outlet to Delaware. The chain
specializes in selling organically-raised and gluten-free food.
Reed said "it is not just another grocery store," but Dan Tanzer,
testifying on behalf of the Shop Rite store in the shopping
center adjacent to the Woodlawn property, said that
establishment carries "a full line" of such products.
Scott acknowledged that Whole
Foods is the only prospective tenant lined up so far. The plan
depicts several other stores on the site.
Councilman Robert Weiner, who
represents the area, testified that the issue goes well beyond
"the myopic desires of those who wish to shop at a specialty
Whole Foods supermarket." Instead, he said, "the community would
be better served" if the site were developed for age-restricted
senior housing and medical facilities.
Councilman John Cartier said
there is "a dizzying array of retail options for the public"
along Concord Pike, adding, "It's a matter of 'why more?'."
Richard Abbott, a lawyer
representing nearby Concord Mall, testified that the proposed
Woodlawn project would "create additional problems at an already
unsafe intersection."
However, John Lawless, owner of a
car-washing establishment on Naamans Road, said that "anybody
who thinks that this [property] is going to remain a cornfield
is naive." |