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Editorial: Sussex Council must assert its right to make land-use decisions

April 17, 2018

Sussex County Council was ordered by Chancery Court to rehear the denied Overbrook Town Center rezoning request and issue a new decision based on reasons that can withstand legal review.

The court order comes in the face of a decisive 4-1 vote against the controversial project – the largest shopping center ever proposed in Sussex County. Members of council may not have expressed their reasons astutely enough for the court, but council clearly turned down the project because it is not appropriate in an area zoned agricultural-residential.

While council must vote a second time on the original plan, its developer is now proposing a scaled-back shopping center on a smaller, 50-acre parcel, with housing on the remainder – houses that are allowed by right on the parcel's existing zoning.

This new request fits a pattern that goes like this: Propose a huge project that draws intense public opposition. Once the objections have been heard, come back with a new plan, and testify in a public hearing the plan responds to all public objections. If your revised plan is denied, take council to court, and tell the judge the decision is not supported by the record.

At this point, the land-use decision that should be county council's to make is instead in the hands of a judge.

This pattern is now well established. It uses public comment to come back against the public, rendering public comment pointless.

What can council do to take back its power to make land-use decisions?

In light of intense development across Sussex and the two-units per acre AR-1 zoning allows, council must set a very high, very consistent bar for approving zoning changes. Zoning changes are not allowed by right; they should be rare and granted only when the application demonstrates the change will provide a clear public benefit.

Beyond that, council must limit developers to a single plan per application and impose strict constraints so a project cannot reappear in a new form after any public hearing has occurred.

 

  • Editorials are considered and written by Cape Gazette Editorial Board members, including Publisher Chris Rausch, Editor Jen Ellingsworth, News Editor Nick Roth and reporters Ron MacArthur and Chris Flood. 

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