Camden looks for sensible balance

CAMDEN — Larry Dougherty Sr., the mayor of Camden, says that driving on U.S. 13 can be quite deceiving when it comes to Camden’s population.

If one ventures down the highway in the early morning or late afternoon, Camden would appear to be a metropolis with backed-up traffic at stoplights from the Rodney Village Shopping Center to the north to the Price Honda automobile dealership to the south.

Actually, the mayor said, it is really a small town that is embracing its role as restaurant, superstore and shopping destinations for other burgeoning nearby areas such as Magnolia and Woodside.

The town of Camden has a population of more than 4,000 residents.

The vision for the town in its 2019 Comprehensive Plan states “Camden seeks to remain a small town that is centrally located to everything in Delaware, while recognizing the need for strategic growth opportunities to continue to provide a great environment to both live and work.”

Mayor Dougherty was a lifelong resident of Baltimore before retiring and moving to Barclay Farms, a 55-plus neighborhood in Camden in 2009.

“From my perspective and where I sit, things (in Camden) haven’t necessarily changed a whole lot,” the mayor said. “The biggest change has been the development of the property (along the highway) and some apartments.

“Now the growth in apartments from Sunset Village is right down Main Street and (new development) Savannah Farms is moving in right across the road from me.”

There are Delaware Department of Transportation initiatives that are in the works to help alleviate some of the pain when it comes to traffic through the area.

Just last week, DelDOT took the beginning steps of an East Camden Bypass Project that it hopes will help. It is also planning to add a third lane on both sides of U.S. 13 from Camden to Woodside.

“This is the first of six infrastructure projects that will be taking place in the Camden area over the next several years that will provide needed improvements that will make the area safer and easier to travel, whether in a vehicle, on a bike or on foot,” Delaware Secretary of Transportation Nicole Majeski said at last week’s groundbreaking ceremony for the East Camden Bypass project.

Mayor Dougherty said traffic infrastructure improvements are definitely a need. He believes the Camden Bypass will eventually be a big help to ease traffic through the area.

“U.S. 13 is very congested, and I think they’re adding a lane in each direction from Woodside up to the Puncheon Run. So that will get traffic through Camden a little better,” he said.

“I might wish the bypass was a bypass and it went around Camden and the Camden area. But it will be an improvement and it will help the historic area downtown. It should alleviate a lot of traffic through there.”

Keeping up with the growth

Camden grew steadily, but slowly, from 1940 to 2000, but its population has nearly doubled in the past 20 years since 2000.

The U.S. Census recorded 1,899 residents in 1990, 2,100 in 2000 and more than 4,000 now.

The historic growth rate compares to the more modest town growth of just 19.5% in the 20 years between 1980 and 2000.

Signs of growth are everywhere, from a new Wawa store, Grotto Pizza restaurant, Texas Roadhouse, Bob Evans and all the fast-food regulars such as McDonald’s, Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s and others.

A large High Tide liquor store is under construction between Wawa and Grotto.

There is a great deal of interest in the Camden area these days.

“There are definitely a lot of things going on,” Mayor Dougherty said. “A developer has expressed interest in a mini-hospital  — kind of a super Doc in a Box thing — and it would have overnight beds and it would have emergency treatment. But it would be on a rather small scale. That could be beneficial to the town.

“Personally, I’d like to see another grocery store.”

There is one thing that is always for certain, according to Mayor Dougherty, and that is change.

“We’ve been here for 15 years and one thing I’ve learned in planning is every seven years you have to move further out because there’s change,” he said.

“There is the possibility of two additional housing developments coming in. Of course, some of these developments take several years — they have to go through planning, they have to go through engineering.

“For instance, Savannah Farms, I didn’t know it at the time, but that was supposed to be developed when I moved here. But all the plans were canceled because in 2008 and ’09 there was the housing bust, so they didn’t build them. That shows you how long it can take.

“Now, they’re back in the picture and it looks like it will eventually be built.”

Trying to find a balance

In the 2019 Camden Comprehensive Plan, officials said the goals are to maintain the character of the town’s environment while allowing for growth and change in clearly identified appropriate locations.

It also seeks to improve the transportation system and strives to become “The most walkable town in Delaware” by ensuring that neighborhoods and commercial areas throughout town are well connected by sidewalks and that roads are safe to cross in key locations.

The plan also seeks to maintain and enhance the existing small-town commercial entities and neighborhoods and preserve and enhance areas with historic, cultural, scenic, open space, environmental and recreational value.

However, Mayor Dougherty did issue a warning for the town’s residents.

“I think some of our biggest concerns in the future will be balancing the budget,” he said. “Our taxes have not gone up in Camden since 2011 and next year they’re going to have to go up. I know Wyoming is looking into a tax increase for next year, also.”

The mayor said the town’s budget for this year is actually balanced, but if one looks deeper into it, it is really not.

“The state is buying that (bypass) property from the town of Camden so there’s a one-time infusion of $220,000. So that’s going a long way toward filling that shortfall,” he said. “We’re actually using almost $70,000 out of funds that came from prior years. So we’ve got the money to cover the budget without borrowing or the town going into debt.

“Since I’ve been here, there’s never been loans taken out for the purpose of balancing the budget.”

With the town’s growth, items such as hiring police officers are certain to become paramount and that price continues to rise.

Camden has nine police officers, along with a pair of lieutenants and a chief. The town had 15 officers just a couple of years ago.

It recently added two policemen and there are two more in the budget. The town has applied for a grant that would cover a third policeman’s salary for two years.

“Police salaries have gone up enormously and we’ve been looking at it recently and we found that we’re even behind on administrative salaries for all the town employees,” the mayor said. “We’re maybe $150,000 a year behind on some of these.

“When it comes to police officers’ salaries, we’d like to be somewhere in the middle — not the highest, but not the lowest, either.”

Where is everyone coming from?

As a transplant from Baltimore, Mayor Dougherty knows exactly what attracts people to come to the Camden area.

“It’s a slower pace of life and Delaware has a much better tax structure,” he said. “I’m from Maryland and my real estate taxes are much lower than they ever were in Maryland, and a lot of my fellow residents came from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“A lot of the New Jersey residents that came down here said they were paying $10,000 to $15,000 more a year in real estate taxes. They’re thinking Delaware here is heaven. It goes a long way.”

As for the mayor, he is proud to serve the town of Camden.

“Coming from Baltimore, I’d have to say (I’m enjoying) a slower pace of life,” Mr. Dougherty said. “Although I’ll admit a lot of residents in the area didn’t come from a major city. They might not realize this as much, but I know if I come out of my development to Route 10 and there’s three cars coming, I say, ‘Darn, there’s the traffic jam.’”

That, he laughed, is something he can live with.

Staff writer Mike Finney can be reached at 302-741-8230 or mfinney@iniusa.org . Follow @MikeFinneyDSN on X.