The following letter was addressed to Royal Farms with a copy provided to the Cape Gazette for publication.
On your website advocating for a Royal Farms gas station, convenience store and car wash at Route 24 and Angola Road, you write: “Talking to your neighbor about the neighborhood-enhancing benefits of bringing a Royal Farms to our community would be a game-changer.” Phew! That’s a mouthful to chew over! But if we’re being honest, it ruffles our feathers when you refer to this as “our community.” Last time we checked, none of the two dozen communities up, down and along Route 24 affected by your proposal are yours. In fact, more than 1,300 residents have signed petitions opposing CU2360, your application for a conditional-use permit. More signatures are being gathered every day. Even a simple check of the docket for CU2360 shows that comments opposing your application outnumber those supporting it by more than 16-to-1.
When you refer to neighborhood-enhancing benefits, you’re being ironic, right? If not, that’s hard to swallow. Just consider what’s happened at other Royal Farms locations in Delaware. Data from DNREC and first responder logs show that since 2015, at least 44 fuel spills or leaks have occurred – including several that released more than 50 gallons and required environmental cleanups. And talk about trickle-down economics: as you surely must know, even a single gallon of gasoline getting into drinking water supply can contaminate 10 million gallons!
But that’s not all. During the same timeframe, nearly 40 serious reportable incidents involving motor vehicles occurred in or near Royal Farms’ Delaware locations. Tragically, several resulted in serious injuries or fatalities. Additionally, law enforcement logs and media reports document at least 60 actual or attempted serious crimes – thefts, carjackings, altercations, assaults, even murders – happened at Royal Farms facilities in Delaware; most took place between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
We’re not being “Chicken Little” when we say it’s hard to see how any of this could possibly enhance the quality of life in our neighborhoods and communities.
Your website also states this: “Introducing a Royal Farms at the intersection of Angola Road and Route 24 will revolutionize convenience for over 20-plus surrounding communities currently traveling five-plus miles to the nearest gas station and convenience store.” Hmm ... this one really leaves us clucking. After all, the reality is none of us needs to travel more than three miles from our homes to find gas stations, food markets or car washes. Even the Royal Farms on the corner of Route 1 and Route 24 and the one at the corner of Route 24 and Bay Farm Road in Oak Orchard are barely four miles away.
Royal Farms, we suspect you’ll dismiss our concerns as paltry – or maybe poultry. But take it from us, we think your proposal will just lay an egg.
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