Plans for a hotel beside Delaware Park were approved by County Council this week.
A four-story hotel is slated to go in next to the Delaware Park casino, racetrack and golf course.
The developer plans to build a Homewood Suites style Hilton Hotel with 133 rooms.
New Castle County Council voted overwhelmingly to approved the plan, which involved subdividing a parcel owned by the Delaware Racing Association to sell to the developer.
City Councilmember Jea Street raised concerns about the hotel’s impact on the pre-existing traffic congestion in the area.
The developer’s lawyer, Shawn Tucker, said a traffic impact study was not triggered by law. “A lot of folks that do gamble and come to Delaware Park stay, when they’re from out of state in particular, at other hotels off site,” he said. “This hotel provides the option of folks being able to stay on site so they’re not leaving Delaware Park and coming back to Delaware Park.”
He emphasized that the planned hotel would be in an area of the county that has been identified for growth.
County Councilman Bill Bell said at the meeting the new hotel would be a boon to several area institutions — including Christiana Hospital. “I look at this as complementing the necessary infrastructure for business and economic development, a critical healthcare facility.”
