SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - The Land Use Reform Working Group held its final voting session Thursday, voting on 20 draft recommendations aimed at reforming local land use policies.
Members selected from five levels of support: strongly support, support, can live with it, oppose and strongly oppose.
All 20 recommendations received overall support, although enthusiasm varied across individual items. The final recommendation, added during the meeting, called for modernizing zoning codes to allow for more mixed-use development.
Christophe Tulou, a working group member and executive director of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, said the group accomplished a great deal in a short period of time.
"It was an intense, short period of time to do a really, really big job, and I'm very happy with the results," Tulou said.
Sussex Preservation Coalition is represented by Jill Hicks; the American Council of Engineering Companies by Mike Riemann; the Home Builders Association of Delaware by Jon Horner; the Environmental Group by Christophe Tulou of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays; Sussex Farm Bureau by Jay Baxter or RC Willin; Affordable Housing Advocate by Caitlin Del Collo of the Delaware State Housing Authority; Affordable Housing Developer by Matthew Padron; Local Residential Developer by Doug Motley; Delaware Department of Transportation by Mark Luszcz; and the Office of State Planning Coordination by David Edgell or Dorothy Morris.
The group emphasized that the recommendations should be treated as a comprehensive package. Nine out of 10 participants supported the entire package in its final form.
"The key message is that that package has to be viewed as a package, and it really needs to be enacted as a package in whatever way the council would figure to do that," Tulou added.
The recommendations addressed a wide range of land use topics, including updated land use mapping, diverse housing types, density considerations, transportation planning and environmental conservation.
Joe Pika, a resident who attended every session of the working group’s meetings, commended the effort and commitment shown throughout the process.
"I sat through the 20 hours of the group’s public meetings. I think that progress has been made," Pika said. "I'm not sure the recommendations are going to be the final solutions for some of the issues that they were trying to grapple with, but it certainly moves the needle forward in terms of getting the debate started."
A final report will now be prepared to document the working group's efforts, the voting process and the results according the county. The report will also provide context about the group's work.
"We are going to assemble that and then distribute it," said Sussex County Administrator Todd F. Lawson. "We’ll distribute it to the group, of course, and then to the county council as well."
Sussex County Administrator Todd F. Lawson said council members are anxious to look at the group's work.
"I will tell you, in talking to them, and they've been following along very closely," Lawson said. "They are anxious to get to work right away. So I think that gives us a signal of how quickly we'll turn this around."
The county council is expected to begin reviewing the recommendations and discussing possible implementation. The meeting concluded with certificates of appreciation presented to all working group members in recognition of their contributions.