This plan was formally submitted to New Castle County in March of 2022, following County Council’s 6-6 vote on our appeal of the Planning Board and Department’s denial of a subdivision variance to eliminate a connection between the residential project and Shipley Road. The Department and the Planning Board did recommend approval of the overall rezoning plan. Notable changes include, but are not limited to:

1. Given the denial of the subdivision variance, for the project to move forward access must be provided to Shipley Road. The Property Owner, however, remaining cognizant of the Community’s desire to limit traffic along Shipley Road, is not proposing to reestablish an interconnection between Shipley Road and Concord Pike. Instead, the plan has been revised to have the apartments continue to take access to and from Concord Pike while the 65 single-family homes will now take access to and from Shipley Road. There remains no vehicle interconnection between the two residential communities, however, we are continuing to propose bicycle and pedestrian connections between the communities, as well as a path between Shipley Road and the Concord Square shopping center.

2. As with the prior version of the plan, significant acreage remains dedicated to the Brandywine School District by this proposal. Because of the requirement for the new connection to Shipley Road, however, the size of the donation has been reduced slightly (to approximately 42 acres). The proposed entrance has also been designed to separate traffic from the residential community and the school for ingress and egress. The land to be donated to the school continues to retain its “S” zoning classification. The School District, which has pursued and received funding for the project, continues to propose the construction of the Bush Early Learning Center.

3. The number of residential dwelling units remains the same as the prior plan (300 apartments and 65 single-family homes). The overall layout of the community remains very similar to that of the prior version of the plan, save for the reconfiguration of the entrance off of Shipley Road