Pettinaro Management is donating 30 acres on the west side of Hercules Road in Mill Creek to New Castle County for a park. Ken Mammarella photo.
New Castle County is on its way to being given 30 acres for a park in the Mill Creek area.
The land is part of a country club known as Hercules when it opened in 1937 (that’s why the road it’s on is called Hercules Road) and then Delaware National before being sold, with housing planned.
“The project was approved in 2000 for 258 homes,” said Gregory Pettinaro, CEO of Pettinaro Management. “The west side on the other side of Hercules Road is 30 acres and is approved for 19 large estate homes. Through discussions with the neighbors and the local councilwoman, we decided to donate that 30 acres to NCC as open space parkland, eliminating 19 homes on the parcel.
“This will allow the interconnection of the trail system NCC has been working towards. In addition, we will donate $50,000 towards future maintenance.”
The donation was on the agenda of the county Board of Adjustment on March 28, and Pat Burns Carlozzi wrote “IT PASSED!” on the Millcreek Neighbors for Safer Pathways Facebook group.
“Nothing official yet!” county spokesman Brian Cunningham said March 29 when asked for comment. “Still waiting for some more details. Stay tuned.”
“Per the county, the site has already gone through the required environmental remediation,” she continued. Thanks to all of you who have been advocating for more open space and more trails. We are making an impact and changing the way planners and builders are doing business!”
Alice Hanes, a Millcreek Neighbors for Safer Pathways volunteer, walks on one of the old golf cart paths at Delaware National. Millcreek Neighbors for Safer Pathways photo.
Millcreek Neighbors for Safer Pathways is focused on Route 41/Newport Gap Pike between McKennans Church Road and Faulkland Road and the safety and connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The Delaware National land, just south of Route 48/Lancaster Pike, has been the subject of years of debate, with neighbors hoping that it could be bought – with funding from the state, foundations and other sources – and not developed. The fight inspired the creation of a group called Hold on to Hercules, which made its last Facebook post in 2019.
Pettinaro, a vertically integrated real estate company in Newport that has dozens of commercial properties and thousands of apartments and townhomes, bought the Delaware National property for $9.2 million in 2009, according to county land records, Delaware Business Times reported in 2020.
“Pettinaro expects to spend about $4 million to make road improvements recommended by the county and the state’s Department of Transportation to improve traffic flow in the area, particularly at Centerville Road and Lancaster Pike,” DelawareOnline reported in 2020.
Neighbors would prefer parks, not development
The site is one of several former New Castle County golf courses that have generated debate over development.
Plans for the old Brandywine Country Club, which opened in 1945 on Shipley Road in the heart of Brandywine Hundred, have been revised several times. One sticking point was vehicular access to Concord Pike (although access by foot and bicycle is good). The number of dwellings – single-family homes, townhouses and apartments – has changed. And developer Louis Capano III has agreed to donate 44 of the site’s 110 acres to the Brandywine School District for a school, Delaware Public Media reported in 2022.
Plans to develop the Three Little Bakers golf course in Pike Creek, which closed in 2010, were constrained in 2020, when the Delaware Superior Court ruled that a deed restriction covers 130 of the 180-acre site.
“This means that upon any future development there will be 130 acres of open space independent of any open space required for new development,” County Councilwoman Janet T. Kilpatrick wrote at the time, adding that the rest of the land could hold about 60 homes.
