Why Should Delaware Care?
For years, development plans in the small northern Delaware community of Yorklyn have gone through the state environmental agency, leaving residents out of the approval process. Now, they fear environmental consequences, and may sue the development company.
A small northern Delaware community is looking to stop a luxury townhome development through any means necessary — including a lawsuit.
Yorklyn residents for years have opposed developments on former industrial land in the Auburn Valley redevelopment district, which did not go through the county’s land use process due to a unique state plan. They worry their wells will run dry, traffic congestion will worsen and local wildlife won’t have a place to go.
The resident group has notched several wins. Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), which administers the redevelopment district, denied an apartment proposal and bought almost 30 acres of the land for $6 million to add to Auburn Valley State Park.
But three townhome development projects remain, totaling about 130 homes. And one of those projects, called Quarry Walk, is slated to begin construction sometime this month.
“We’re at the end of the line with what we have been doing so far,” said Hockessen resident and land use activist Isaac Jabola-Carolus to a crowd of 60 concerned residents earlier this month. “We’re at a point where we need to try exceptional things that we have not done yet.”
At the community meeting, Jabola-Carolus and others discussed suing developers Drake Cattermole and David Carpenter to try to stop construction, or using state and private funds to buy the land.
Neither developer responded to requests for comment.
But DNREC Secretary Gregory Patterson said the three developments are in their final stages and “have the legal right to proceed.” Patterson was not in office when the agency signed the agreements.
“We have addressed a lot of the concerns and have generally made the place better,” Patterson said. “But there is a point at which you can’t undo previous decisions.”
Yorklyn residents say they have for years felt blindsided by development projects proposed in their area.
Typically, land use decisions are made by Delaware counties and proposals go through multiple public forums before approval. But in the case of Yorklyn, those approvals were signed with DNREC behind closed doors, without community involvement.
The agency gained land use authority over parts of Yorklyn Ridge through the Auburn Valley Master Plan, designed to clean up the former industrial lands with a combination of state and private development funds.
The land under the master plan was not subject to New Castle County’s zoning and regulatory authority due to state legislation that was approved to exempt it. Instead, all approvals, zoning decisions and subdivision plans fell to DNREC.
DNREC and New Castle County recently came to an agreement to transition land use control back to the county. But the three already-approved development plans will continue under DNREC land use control until they are constructed.
Local concerned about water, traffic
At the April 9 resident meeting, Kira Alejandro, a Yorklyn resident and candidate for New Castle County Council, asked the crowd who used well water.
Nearly everyone in attendance raised their hands.
Alejandro said a primary concern she and others have with the developments is that they are located in a recharge area for the Cockeysville aquifer, where local wells get their water.
Typically, New Castle County has stringent reviews for developments in the Cockeysville Water Resource Protection Area, which encompasses much of northern Delaware.
DNREC commissioned a study on the impacts of the townhomes on the aquifer. It concluded they would lead to a small water deficit. Patterson said the agency asked the developers to change their plans to reduce the impact, and they agreed.
But residents who analyzed the study said it included unrelated properties that DNREC owns, rather than focusing just on the site of the planned townhomes. They claimed the developments would actually lead to a deficit of millions of gallons.
“When it comes to drinking water, that’s not something you should mess with,” Jabola-Carolus said.
Patterson said all the areas included in the study were relevant because much of the work the agency has done on its properties helps the aquifer recharge.
Residents at the meeting also expressed concerns about traffic impacts from the townhomes, especially on the narrow bridge over Red Clay Creek.
DNREC commissioned a traffic study of that question that is not yet finished. Patterson said his agency cannot require the developers to make any road improvements based on the results because their plans are already finalized.
Susanne Moran grew up in Yorklyn, and she said the resident opposition to these developments is “not a NIMBY situation”
“A lot of us really do welcome new neighbors, new life, new input,” Moran said.
But she said it “terrifies” her that the county is not the one overseeing the construction of the townhomes. She also said the area is prone to flooding, and nearby development has already harmed the local ecosystem.
“I haven’t seen a pheasant since ninth grade, in 1975,” Moran said.
Yorklyn resident Sandra Finsel said she became involved in trying to stop the developments in September 2021, when construction workers cleared 10 acres of forest without community notice to make way for Quarry Walk.
She said the townhomes don’t fit into the character of the local area.
“I want to live here because of how it is, because it’s quiet and beautiful and part of nature,” Finsel said. “If I want to live in a townhouse community, I’ll move somewhere else.”
Residents at the meeting spoke about options for funding either a lawyer to stop construction or purchasing the land, but did not make any final decisions.
