CHAPTER 606
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 10
VOICING THE OPPOSITION OF THE 127TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE AND THE CITIZENS OF DELAWARE TO THE CONSTUCTION OF TWO BRIDGES ACROSS THE NANTICOKE RIVER AT SHARPTOWN AND VIENNA, MARYLAND AND RECOMMENDING AND REQUESTING A RE-STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE AREA BY THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD BEFORE ANY CONSTRUCTION PERMITS ARE ISSUED.
WHEREAS, the State of Maryland has applied to the United States Coast Guard to build two fixed bridges with vertical clearances of 40 and 45 feet above mean high water across the Nanticoke River at Sharptown and Vienna, Maryland, respectively; and
WHEREAS, Delaware residents living in the vicinity of the Nanticoke River are of the opinion the bridges, if constructed at the proposed heights, would severely restrict river traffic to the City of Seaford and nearby communities thereby assuring an adverse effect on businesses and private property owners in that area as well as on the economy of all sections of Sussex County; and
WHEREAS, the Seaford-Blades Chamber of Commerce, the Seaford City Council, and the Division of Economic Development, among others have gone on record as opposing construction of any bridge spanning the Nanticoke River in Maryland that would fail to meet with intercoastal waterway standards that specify minimum clearance height of 65 feet above mean high water for a bridge crossing a river considered to be intercoastal waterway; and
WHEREAS, the Nanticoke River is the only access in lower Delaware to the Chesapeake Bay from Delaware and is the only river in Sussex County navigable to commercial vessels and to pleasure crafts owned by Seaford area residents who are eagerly planning to utilize the facilities of a recently completed commercial marina upstream from Seaford which can accommodate vessels requiring more than 40 feet vertical clearance; and
WHEREAS, the members of the 127th General Assembly of the State of Delaware are in opposition to the construction of the proposed bridges at Sharptown and Vienna, Maryland and are in accord with the fervent wishes of a large segment of the population of Sussex County that a careful re-study be made by the proper governmental agencies of all proposed bridges over the Nanticoke River from the standpoint of economic growth and potential development of fastlands bordering the Nanticoke River during the next 50 to 100 years.
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the 127th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the House of Representatives concurring therein, that the congressional delegations of both Maryland and Delaware, the Governor of Maryland and members of the Maryland Legislature be advised of the opposition of the members of the Delaware General Assembly and the citizens of Delaware to the proposed construction of two bridges of less than 65 feet vertical clearance across the Nanticoke River at Sharptown and Vienna, Maryland.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the 127th General Assembly, the House of Representatives concurring therein, go on record as strongly opposing plans to build bridges over the Nanticoke River at Sharptown and Vienna, Maryland, and strongly recommend and request that an exhaustive re-study be made by the Department of Transportation of the United States Coast Guard prior to granting any permits for bridge construction across the Nanticoke River with particular emphasis on the future economic growth of the areas in Delaware bordering the Nanticoke River.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the text of this resolution be spread upon the Journals of the Delaware Senate and House of Representatives, and copies of this resolution be forwarded to all members of the Maryland and Delaware Congressional Delegations, to the Governor of Maryland, to the President of the Maryland Senate, to the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, to the Seaford City Council, to the Seaford-Blades Chamber of Commerce, and to the Division of Economic Development of the State of Delaware, and to the Governor of Delaware.
Approved April 12, 1973.