Town of Ellendale, Delaware 300 McCauley Street P.O. Box 6 Ellendale, Delaware 19941 Tel: 1-302-422-3584 Fax: 1-302-422-6727 November 18, 2003 PUBLIC NOTICE FOR A COMMUNITY MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING ON IDEAS FOR THE PREPARATION OF A 2004 GREATER ELLENDALE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Dear Town of Ellendale and Area Residents, Businesses and Other Interested Parties: We are now starting work on a draft 2004 Greater Ellendale Area Comprehensive Plan. The Plan will serve as a guide to future development, revitalization and growth. Please come to a presentation about the planing process and share your ideas with the Town Board and our Planning Consultant, David Nutter of Nutter Associates on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 at 7:00 PM in the Ellendale Fire Hall. The time frame of the Comprehensive Plan is from now up to 20 years into the future. It will look at Ellendale’s past, present and future. It will cover an area including the Town and approximately one mile around the Town. We would like to have the ideas of residents and businesses. We are working in coordination with Sussex County and the State of Delaware. The Town Board and Nutter Associates are reviewing planning, development and conservation activity in Ellendale, conducting interviews and studies and working on the drafting of the Plan. The preparation of the Plan is expected to take 6 months, leaving enough time for public discussion and County and State coordination. Mr. Nutter will make a presentation at 7:00 pm which will take one-half hour. Discussion and ideas for the Plan will take place thereafter. Light refreshments will be served. The attached sheet describes some of the topics we would like to discuss. If you have others, please bring them to the meeting or let us know in advance. The important thing about the Comprehensive Plan project is that it is our chance to have a big say in the future of our Town and Area. Sincerely yours, Merriell Mitchell President Town of Ellendale Town Board The 2004 Ellendale Comprehensive Plan Project The Town of Ellendale and Its Environs, From the 1992 USGS Quad for Ellendale What are your goals and ideas for Ellendale? The purpose of undertaking the 2004 Greater Ellendale Comprehensive Plan is to provide a guide for future planning, revitalization, historic preservation, development and conservation in the Greater Ellendale Area. It will express a vision for the future of the area as well as goals and objectives, policies and recommended action projects to implement the plan. Its recommendations will focus on physical development. ο Ellendale’s History and Character – How can we preserve Ellendale’s proud history? ο Ellendale Today – What are the unique qualities of Ellendale today? ο Land Use – How are residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, farming and natural areas (the Swamp & the Ellendale and Redden Forests) laid out and how should they be laid out in the future? ο Transportation – Traffic is growing on Routes 16, 213 and 113, including local, regional and beach traffic? How do you think traffic should be handled? What about the railroad lines? ο Business – Business is key to any community’s welfare. Does Ellendale have enough business and jobs? In the Town? Along Route 113? In the surrounding area? ο Environment – We are surrounded by fine State Forests and natural lands. What steps should be taken to further conserve the valuable natural lands around Ellendale? ο Housing – What steps should be taken to preserve housing and residential neighborhoods? Rehabilitation? New single-family homes for sale? New rental housing? ο Utilities – There is a brand new sewer system. There is planning for a water system someday. What are the community’s utility needs and resources? ο Growth & Annexation – Most small towns desire some growth and annexation to maintain a healthy community. Is future growth desirable for Ellendale? Is it inevitable? How much growth should there be and where should it be located? Should some areas be annexed? ο Community Facilities – Do we have the community facilities that people need? ο Farm Land and Natural Areas – Delaware and Sussex County have programs for land conservation and recreational development. How do these programs fit into a Comprehensive Plan for Ellendale? Draft Ellendale Of the Forest The 2004 Greater Ellendale Comprehensive Plan Swamp & Forest Railroad Square Ellendale UME - Stained Glass New Zion AME Church Reed House A Town of the Forest, A Bridge Between Two Bays Prepared for: THE TOWN OF ELLENDALE TOWN COUNCIL ELLENDALE, SUSSEX COUNTY, DELAWARE Prepared by: NUTTER ASSOCIATES, COMMUNITY PLANNERS August 3, 2004 THE 2004 GREATER ELLENDALE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ELLENDALE OF THE FOREST A Jewel Within A Jewel Ellendale is a Town of the Forest and a Bridge Between Two Bays. Within its unique natural and historic setting, it is a small jewel within Delaware, which Thomas Jefferson described as “a jewel among the States”. It has the “inherent value” which the Milford Bard John Lofland wrote of when he said that “Delaware is like a diamond, diminutive, but having within it inherent value”. The Greater Ellendale Area is a green and rural gateway community in south central Delaware. Located in the Ellendale and Redden Forests, the Town is centered on a historic railroad junction and village. It is a bridge that lies across the Peninsular Divide that both divides and connects the Nanticoke River/Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay Estuary Watersheds. It includes vital community institutions and places within the Town and along Old State Road, at New Hope and New Market and along surrounding country roads. It encompasses countryside of great beauty and heritage, including the state forests of Ellendale and Redden, the famous Ellendale Swamp, prime farmlands and peaceful Sussex County farm roads. Ellendale is now experiencing more change than before, including new utility systems, population growth, increasing highway traffic on US 113 and DE Route 16, and new interest in development, conservation, preservation and revitalization. The Comprehensive Plan seeks to preserve the best of Ellendale as a country town and to address its past, present and future as a potential model Livable Delaware community. Town of Ellendale August 3, 2004 - Draft Page 2 THE 2004 GREATER ELLENDALE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ‘The True Tradition of Good Old Ellendale’ By: Willard S. Dickerson “I was bred, born and raised near a Sussex Village Known for its lumber and productive village; It’s quaint country town of very little fame And folks often wonder how it ever got its name. A road was opened up from Greenwood to the shore Then a Mister Josh Ellegood built himself a store At the junction of the road and Lenape Trace; Settlers called crossroads “Ellegood’s Place”. They surveyed for a railroad from Dover on down. Mr. Thomas William Dale was the chief engineer And he brought his daughter Ellen who grew very dear To the population of the town, Both Women and male; They named it in honor of the darling daughter Dale. A depot was erected, the Ties and rails were laid Through the tiny town on a long, level grade. The people trekked from parts of Sussex County To make a modest fortune on the timbered bounty From Nanticoke Swamp, and the land where stood The Delaware pine, the oak, the elm and hickory wood. The stumps were pulled, the new ground was cleared, From thence and there the fertile farms appeared. They built themselves a church with zeal and loving care For preaching on Sunday and Wednesday evening prayer. They worshipped in their church for fifty-five years ‘Till it was burned to the ground midst anguish and fears A larger church was then erected and opened up in May And that symbol of Salvation is standing there today. I received my education in the brown shingled school When the teachers were tough and as stubborn as a mule. So, that’s the hallowed country town from whence I hail And that’s the true tradition of good old Ellendale.” Town of Ellendale August 3, 2004 - Draft Page 3 THE 2004 GREATER ELLENDALE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OUR COMMUNITY ‘And Such a Pleasant Place It Is To Us, We Do Declare’ By 3rd Grade Pupils at Ellendale Colored School when Miss Goode was teacher “Ellendale’s in Sussex While persons chat and wait. In lower Delaware Shoes that need half-soling, And such a pleasant place it is As good as new can be To us, we do declare. A cobbler neatly does the work, Who once lived o’er the sea. Houses all are painted Its main street’s broad and clean Mail goes to a building, And everywhere are flowers gay Quite small and painted white, That makes a pretty scene. That’s opened when the day is young And closed up before night. Shade trees, tall, are standing Long lanes and garden spots People without autos As well as on the lawns so green, Can find a way to go; And on some vacant lots. For trains run South and trains run North Stores are small, but showy On time, though they are slow. With mixed wares that are sold, And churches, two, hold services, Ellendale’s a swamp, too, For people young and old. That’s known both far and near For nature there is at her best Schools are training children Each season of the year. The colored and the white And both the schools are given care Fires have damaged trees there, By folks who know what’s right. But fireman, quick and brave, Have run to put those fires out, Three busy garages The other trees to save. Are running every day.