DOVER, Del.- Residents at Fieldstone Village, a 55-and-up community, in Dover are upset over the county's decision to rezone the land directly behind the community for new apartment buildings.
Wayne Emick has lived in Fieldstone Village for five years. He relocated from New Jersey for the tax breaks and quieter lifestyle. He says the community cannot handle more people in the area.
"You have a large traffic problem here now, you can't walk, there's no sidewalks, traffic is heavy," he said. "And then they want to put 200 families in an apartment complex that is not going to be 55 and older."
Kent County Levy Court commissioners rezoned the parcel from industrial to high density residential to make way for the apartments. Levy Court Commissioner Eric Buckson said the industrial designation no longer fits the area because of the surrounding residential community.
Under the industrial designation, a saw mill, asphalt plant or detention center could have been built on the property. But Minette Estes says she doesn't think those were real options for the property.
"I feel as if they said that to scare us so we'd agree to the apartment building," she said.
Emick says the added traffic will put too much stress on the surrounding roads.
"Most houses have two cars to an apartment so there's gonna be 400 cars, more than what we've got to deal with now," he said.
Levy Court Commissioner Eric Buckson said the next step of the process will involve the Regional Planning Commission and the Delaware Department of Transportation. Currently, no new roads are planned but Buckson says he hopes DelDOT will mitigate the concerns of those who live at Fieldstone Village.
