Selbyville is now one step closer to having a major, Route 113-based commercial retail center. Town Council approved the annexation and rezoning of about 171 acres by a unanimous vote Monday, allowing developers to start planning the retail center, which could boast up to 150 retail stores, including a department store.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON:
The Selbyville Towne Center could bring 600 to 800 jobs to the area, according to town officials.
The land, just north of town, has frontages on Route 113 and Cemetery Road. Some165 acres would be used for the commercial development that officials called one-of-a-kind south of Dover. Development officials said they plan to return to council within a couple of months for a preliminary site plan review.
“It’s what we need, more than residential growth in my opinion,” Councilman Jay Murray said Monday. “It would mean an economic benefit for the area.”
Officials estimated Monday that the retail center — preliminarily dubbed Selbyville Town Center — would bring 600 to 800 jobs and flocks of visitors to the area. Building would, they hope, start in the beginning of 2008 and would take eight to nine months to complete, with an opening planned for that fall.
Jerome Trout — of the development firm Trout, Segall and Doyle — called the proposal “upscale and first class.”
“It will make Selbyville a hub,” Councilman Clarence Tingle said, echoing the same optimism as his colleagues regarding the proposal. “It will be a hub for people to come to our area.”
Trout said Monday that the development would be built around a “Main Street” area, allowing shoppers to park their cars and walk from store to store. Officials, including Trout, called a shuttle service to help the elderly and disabled maneuver through the large retail center a possibility, saying, though, that planning was only in the preliminary state as they awaited approval from the town.
They also called the development “low impact,” as compared to a similarly-sized residential development. It would use 50 percent less sewer and 30 percent to 40 percent less water than a residential center. Preliminary and final site plan reviews must be approved by the town before building starts.
“This is the type of proposal that the town has been looking for,” Councilman Richard Duncan said.