DELMAR, Md. - A Salisbury real estate company is planning a major project for Wicomico County. Marshall Home and Land Company is seeking zoning approval for what the company is calling a "mega-performing arts pavilion" in Delmar, Md.
This pavilion would also be environmentally-friendly, powered by solar energy. According to Doug Marshall, who is leading the charge, the pavilion is just part of the project.
"The energy from this project, the solar energy from this project, should feed this entire community, which is about 110 acres," he explained.
The 110-acre community represents 15 percent of the town of Delmar, Md. The highlight of it all, if Marshall gets zoning approval, will be an amphitheater designed to fit up to 5,000 people.
Marshall took WBOC along for a tour of the land that could soon become the pavilion's home.
"I think that people are looking for a way to entertain their families for a day, for less than $100," he said.
Marshall is also planning on building a restaurant on the property, along with age-targeted housing and 95 single family homes.
He said the project would help create jobs and could bring hundreds of thousands of people to the area every year.
But that's the very thing that has Wayne Litchford, who lives right across the street from the land, worried.
"I think the noise would be a problem. I think, myself trying to get out of the driveway might be a problem, along with other people who live along this Route 54," Litchford said.
Marshall said the project has been met with mostly positive feedback.
Mike Ennis is a Delmar resident who is on board with the idea.
"It'd be a boost to the economy and get people jobs but I think it's going to be a long process," he said.
Marshall said if all goes according to plan, the dirt will by moving by next year.
It's tough to pin down just how much the project will cost; grant money could help pay for the solar project.
Marshall is hoping for a type of zoning called "Planned Unit Development," which would make the area a "floating district." It is currently zoned as "Residential 2."
