New Castle County rezoning takes turn
Incyte withdraws plans for new HQ amid growing controversy
The ever-present controversy surrounding New Castle County’s comprehensive rezoning process found a new wrinkle this past week, as Incyte announced it would not move forward with plans to construct a 400,000-square-foot headquarters expansion at the site of the Wilmington Friends Lower School. This also causes problems for Wilmington Friends’ plans to construct a new lower school on its main campus.
But there was an additional piece of news in the ongoing rezoning drama earlier this month. In a letter sent to those who’d sent messages protesting rezoning, County Executive Matt Meyer signaled that the Department of Land Use would recommend severing an additional two parcels from the contentious rezoning vote, expected to hit the County Council early next year.
Community meetings on the subject of comprehensive rezoning have been swarmed by concerned neighbors, even on properties where projects have not yet been proposed. The Department of Land Use has responded by recommending that controversial parcels be severed from the comprehensive ordinance.
In October, New Castle County Land Use General Manager Charuni Patibanda said her department would recommend removing the (now-dead) Incyte property from the comprehensive bill.
The same went for four parcels controlled by the Delaware City Refinery where a hydrogen plant has been rumored as part of the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub, as well as properties near the Town of Whitehall that would serve as access roads for a proposed warehouse project on Jameson Corner.
In a letter on Nov. 30, County Executive Meyer said two parcels on Port Penn Road in Middletown should also be nixed from the ordinance.
“The Department has recommended to County Council that parcels with concerns be removed from the ordinance, and be considered for a rezoning when accompanied with a development plan,” he wrote.
The Port Penn parcels, on the Union Carbide subdivision and at the former site of Lighthouse Farm, were the subject of a contentious community meeting in November. Both are owned by Parkway Gravel Inc.
Though no recent development plans have been submitted for those sites, the comprehensive development plan called for zoning on those parcels to change from farmland to business park.
Dale Swain, a retired engineer leading efforts to protest the Port Penn rezonings, said this rezoning would allow untold new projects to be pushed through without as much citizen oversight — including large warehouses that could bring truck traffic.
Even if the Port Penn projects are removed from the ordinance, Swain said he would continue to fight against the comprehensive rezoning ordinance.
“It just smells really bad that they are doing it this way,” he said of the comprehensive rezoning.
‘Dunkin’ of the Future’ lands in Prices Corner
At a Dec. 2 grand opening, Dunkin’ (previously known as Dunkin’ Donuts until 2019), officially opened its doors to the future in its Prices Corner location at 1802 Faulkland Road.
What’s the future look like? Mobile apps and nitro, apparently. Dunkin’ is also trumpeting a new design with a “new, warm interior color palette” and “atmospheric lighting.” The future of Dunkin’ is also a bit romantic.
If it sounds familiar, it should. New Castle County already has at least a couple “Next Gen” Dunkins, one in Elsmere at 1112 Kirkwood Highway and one in Bear at 1200 Pulaski Highway.
The wall at the Prices Corner location says “Wilmington runs on Dunkin’” — in homage to the fact that Dunkin’ is as confused as most people about where Wilmington starts and stops.
But for the record, the Bear location says “Bear.” The Elsmere location says “Elsmere.” People of Prices Corner: Rise up!
That said, it appears Dunkin’ is mostly hoping you won’t spend much time here. The location is designed for speed, self-service and a fast in-and-out experience. This means a drive-thru, a dedicated mobile pickup area for people who order on the app, and a digital order status board so you can watch slightly less helplessly as your order comes up in the queue.
The drive-thru will also have dedicated mobile-ordering lane, so people who order ahead can whisk on through.
The lack of “Donuts” in the name signals a recent move by the franchise to double down on the coffee. And so now in addition to your usual coffee, you can also get nitro-infused cold brew only at the Next Gen locations.
If you’re wondering why you care? Tiny bubbles. Nitro has tiny bubbles. Like champagne, but it’s coffee.
The 1,800-square-foot restaurant will employ approximately 15 crew members and is open daily from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Dunkin’ franchisee Rick Patel owns and operates three Dunkin’ locations in Delaware.
Rehoboth Beach winter housekeeping: A new arcade, a new Thai spot and Kaisy’s moves to Millsboro
Beach towns make their moves in the winter, and so it goes for Rehoboth Beach. Here are a few of the moves that the beach town businesses have been making since November.
The Tanger Outlets will see a new location of local arcade chain Zelky’s, whose owners have been serving Rehoboth Beach for more than 40 years, with two current locations on the Boardwalk. The forthcoming Tanger Outlets location, at the Bayside outlets at suite 470, was reported by the Cape Gazette.
As of November, Rehoboth also has a new dedicated Thai restaurant, Secret Sauce Kitchen, in the location of the former Vietnamese spot, Minh’s Bistro, at 18949 Coastal Highway. Longtime Minh’s owner Thinh P. Pham wrote that he planned to “get home to my wife & mother-in-law to take care of them, to travel a bit and to REST.” He also stayed on help the new Thai spot with the transition. Secret Sauce’s menu includes the usual American-Thai array of curries in all the colors of a stoplight, basil rice dishes, pad thai, pad see ew and drunken noodles.
And Kaisy’s Delights has departed Rehoboth Beach. The original Lewes location remains open for the Austro-Hungarian and French breakfast chalet, known for its love of butter. The goulash, latkes, schnitzel and pierogies will instead be moving down the road to an as-yet-unspecified location in Millsboro, the restaurant announced in November.