I would like to commend Sussex County Councilman I.G. Burton and the Cape Gazette for their insight and ability to realize the importance of requiring wider buffers along our waterways and correcting how housing density is calculated.
The days of deluding ourselves, that what we do on our own land is our business only and does not effect others, are over. This concept of sovereign land use without concern for one's neighbor might have been acceptable in 1958, but it is not in 2018 as a result of population density issues, climate changes (droughts/floods, severity of storms, sea level rise, etc) and chemical contamination of our land and water which are upon us and rapidly increasing. Sussex County has become a magnet to people from surrounding states as a retirement destination, and, like it or not, the pressure on the resources of Sussex County will increase dramatically. As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, "We are not in Kansas anymore."
The changes that I.G. Burton proposes are necessary to protect our water resources that are already contaminated from years of unregulated corporate farming and poultry production. This water contamination is further exacerbated by the antiquated and continued unsafe usage of spray field sewage application that eventually ends up in our drinking water. Air and water are essential elements of life that we all share and no one escapes from its contamination.
Do you think that perhaps the lack of sensible environmental regulations and contaminated water could be a reason that Delaware has the second highest incidence of cancer rates in the USA, according to the CDC?
Sussex County has room to grow, but that growth needs to be managed sensibly and with attention to the quality of life for all citizens. The rest of Sussex County Council, P&Z, board of adjustment and all county officials need to realize that every decision made affects others. We can no longer pretend that we live in the Land of Oz.
If you want things to change, let Sussex County Council President Mike Vincent know that you support I.G Burton's proposal.
Thomas J. DiOrio
Milton
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