Residents in Yorklyn and neighboring Hockessin have been fighting for years to preserve natural lands and a historic village along the northwest edge of New Castle County. Some progress was made during the latest state legislative session, and now they are asking for Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to take additional steps to halt reckless development.
Developers like Drake Cattermole have exploited a legal loophole to bypass water protection regulations and county codes, the residents said, and only the governor can stop a project that developers slipped into a state-managed plan under the Carney administration without community input or notice.
Developers, including Cattermole, first tried to push through a large development in Yorklyn in 2008 but were denied by New Castle County. But a loophole was added to the state’s bond bill in 2011, which exempted the developers from the county code and review process. This allowed developers to clear-cut 10 acres of forest without public notice and to ignore the county’s land-use regulations…