6A — September 23 - October, 20, 2022 — Delaware — M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal
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D elaware
Preserve land along the Delmarva Central Railroad for industrial uses Dover-Kent County Metropolitan Planning Org. urges better uses of rail-adjacent land
he Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) released recommendations urging the county’s towns and cities to preserve land along the Delmarva Central Railroad for industrial uses that could spur economic development. The group hopes to preserve what land remains after years of neglecting the railroad’s po- tential as a driver of economic development. Kent Economic Partnership director Linda Parkowski ad- vocated for a survey of avail- able land along the railroad. T
She says the county’s two most recent major economic devel- opment projects - including a corrugated packaging plant in Dover - were only possible with rail access. “We have inquiries from companies that are looking for large parcels of land along a rail corridor,” she said. “We may not have an opportunity to entertain those companies if we cannot find land along a rail corridor.” Parkowski alluded to a key finding of the planning office’s survey, which noted an increas- ing number of rail-adjacent
parcels developed as housing subdivisions – a trend that could hinder attempts to make use of the rail corridor for eco- nomic development. In 2022 alone, two rail-adjacent parcels in Dover were developed into housing, along with one parcel in Milford. For decades, county and municipal governments have zoned some rail-adjacent land for residential or mixed-use development, and the planning office’s recommendations look to rezoning as a valuable oppor- tunity to course-correct. Doing so, says MPO Director Marilyn Smith, requires urgent action on the part of Kent County’s municipal governments. “Once you build houses in particular, those houses are not going to be demolished,” she said. “Even though everyone says those houses shouldn’t be here, nobody is going to be the decision-maker and say that we should bulldoze those houses. It just does not happen. Especially during a housing shortage.” The planning office also rec - ommended that Kent County municipalities consider combin- ing parcels with small sections of rail-adjacent land, making more acreage available for rail sidings or spurs. But Jim Galvin, the prin- cipal planner for the MPO, noted that most municipali- ties in Kent County give little attention to the railroad in their comprehensive plans. Harrington, which began ex- ploring the possibility of a multimodal freight terminal along the railroad last year, is among the outliers. “There are some towns that don’t want to see commer- cial uses of the rail,” he said. “They’re just happy with the small amount of commercial they have along Route 13.” Some smaller municipalities, Smith added, do not have the budget or the bandwidth to plan new rail-oriented devel- opment. The MPO’s survey and rec- ommendations are confined to Kent County, but Smith noted that the rail corridors in New Castle and Sussex Counties offer the same economic op- portunities — and face the same development pressures. In Sussex County, however, a portion of a rail spur connect- ing the main line to the beach communities has already been replaced by a bicycle and walk- ing path. MAREJ
© Roman Battaglia / Delaware Public Media
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Linda Parkowski
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