Vol. 2 June 2009 In This Issue CRG Launches New Website Community Meeting July 15 CRG Submits RFI Calendar Important Community Meeting July 15 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. St. Joseph on the Brandywine Family Ctr. CRG Launches New Website The Citizens for Responsible Growth website has been redesigned and a new domain name has been added for your convenience: www.crgncc.org.  The site is now easier to navigate and contains useful information to meet the needs of the community, including potential contributors and the news media. The quarterly newsletter is archived on the new site. Quick Links About Citzens for Responsible Growth New Castle County Department of Land Use Torti Gallas and Partners Orth-Rodgers & Associates Your Contributions at Work... Thank you, on behalf of Citizens for Responsible Growth if you have already made a contribution to our organization. DID YOU KNOW your contributions have helped us engage nationally renowned technical experts in land use and traffic engineering? Torti Gallas and Partners, architects and community designers, and Orth-Rodgers & Associates, Inc., transportation engineers, are working with us to evaluate the projects that will impact our communities. In addition, CRG has engaged a lobbyist to work in Dover representing the community's best interest. This will provide the appropriate balance to the team of lobbyists employed by the developers to support their goals. If you would like to make a contribution to Citizens for Responsible Growth, please visit our website, www.crgncc.org, or send a check payable to CRG in New Castle County, c/o Patty Hobbs P.O. Box 4185 Greenville, DE  19807 Steering Committee Members, Please forward this update to members of your respective associations in order to keep our community informed of development plans in progress and the efforts of our organization. Thank you for your continued help and vigilance. Mark Chura Steering Committee Chair CRG Hosts Public Meeting To Review Concept Plans for Barley Mill Plaza and Greenville Center CRG will sponsor a public meeting at St. Joseph on the Brandywine on July 15th, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., for the purpose of receiving community input on new concept plans for Barley Mill Plaza and Greenville Center commissioned by CRG. Torti Gallas Associates, the nationally renowned land planners and community designers engaged by CRG last year, created the plans. The designs reflect features requested by the surrounding communities, including reduced square footage and building heights, and many of the innovative mixed-use characteristics envisioned by the New Castle County UDC when the mixed-use ordinance was passed. The designs, as well as an explanation of the details, are available at the CRG website: http://www.crgncc.org/updates.html. Last year, when Stoltz Partners promised to reduce the size of Barley Mill Plaza project from 2.8 million square feet to 1.5 million square feet, and to lower the height of its proposed condominium tower in Greenville Center from 12 stories to 6 stories, CRG undertook in return to gather information from the community so that constructive dialog could take place as soon as the revised plans were filed.   The upcoming public meeting, to which both Stoltz and the County Land Use Department are being invited, demonstrates the seriousness of CRG's commitment to a collaborative and constructive process that respects the developer's objectives while integrating community comments and concerns into the design process.  CRG recognizes that significant traffic issues remain to be resolved before any plans can be finalized and approved.  To that end, a regional traffic engineering firm also engaged by CRG, Orth Rogers Associates, is evaluating traffic impact studies as filed by Stoltz, and will be working with DelDOT to generate a traffic impact model for the region affected by the Stoltz plans for Barley Mill Plaza, Greenville Center, 20 Montchanin Road and the Shops at Brandywine Valley.  Highway constraints are but one of the many factors that determine the extent to which a developer may seek development approvals "by right" when a rezoning is not required. CRG Submits Request for Interpretation The Stoltz plans as filed for Barley Mill Plaza and Greenville Center have received conditional approval from the County Land Use Department.  The primary condition is a request that Stoltz explain how its filed plans (showing 2.8 million square feet for Barley Mill Plaza and a 12 story tower at Greenville Center) are consistent with the intent and purpose of the Unified Development Code. Since both of these filed plans seek approval "by right" rather than by vote of County Council, CRG has undertaken to highlight the legal issues confronting the rightfulness of the Stoltz organization's plans. CRG wants both Stoltz and the Land Use Department to focus on the legal issues as seen by the community when Stoltz tries to explain how its filed plans are consistent with the UDC. To accomplish this, CRG has sent the Land Use Department a 20 page Request For Interpretation, which the UDC requires the Land Department to answer in conjunction with the County Law Department. A copy of the Request For Interpretation can be viewed on the CRG website: http://www.crgncc.org/pdfs/crg-request-interpretation.pdf. If either CRG or Stoltz disagree with the interpretations received from the County, either party can appeal to the Planning Board. Knowing clearly what can and cannot be done as a matter of "right" will help the community in forming its expectations and communicating them effectively to the Stoltz organization. Citizens for Responsible Growth would like to thank all who contribute to the success of our mission, but especially Patty Hobbs, whose vision and support have made this work possible. We would also like to thank our elected state and county officials for their strong support, leadership and guidance.