New Castle County Council approved a controversial plan to build hundreds of housing units at an old country club near the Christiana Mall.
The Cavaliers Country Club redevelopment plan has been years in the works.
Pennsylvania-based Carlino Commercial Development plans to build more than 400 residential lots, close to 300 apartment units, some of which will be age-restriction, and an expanded banquet center on the nearly 150-acre site, which backs up to the preexisting Cavaliers apartments and the mall. County Council voted to upzone it for higher density in 2018.
The plan came before Council for a last consent vote Tuesday. Council members could only weigh in on its compliance with code, which the Land Use department had already confirmed. Council approved the plan with no opposition.
But some neighbors still opposed the project. Yong Alev lives next to the golf course.
“The traffic even as it is is horrendous,” she said. “When we try to get out of our community, its a long light and a long back up as it is already..”
Shawn Tucker, the developer’s lawyer, argued the project is in line with studies and plans of the area which recommended increased density for walkability. And he said the developer has been reaching out to neighbors through a community working group for more than five years.
Councilman Kenneth Woods said Carlino did a good job taking input from surrounding communities through a working group.
“Walking into it the first time [I was] hoping to see a little bit more retail in there with some restaurants and one-story stores with residential above it, but that’s ultimately what the communities did not want,” he said.
Tucker says the project is expected to break ground as early as the end of the year.
