We are writing in support of Leslie Ledogar, Democratic candidate for Sussex County Council in District 3. Since the start of her campaign in January, Leslie has detailed what smart growth should look like in Sussex County.
This election is a critical moment for the idea of smart growth, because the post-election Sussex County Council will complete and sign off on the county’s next comprehensive plan.
The comprehensive plan will become the blueprint for growth and the future of Sussex County. Planning for smart growth requires thinking about what zoning means in the first place. We create zones for development because we want reasonable, livable, healthy margins between residential and agricultural and commercial areas, between neighborhoods and farms and stores and industries. Zoning is important to protect our quality of life and to protect the value of our investment in our homes and our communities.
Smart growth planning and zoning is Leslie Ledogar’s passion and what she has spent her entire professional career doing as an environmental lawyer with experience in mediation and forestry. Managing a comprehensive plan requires not just rubber-stamping each rezoning request from developers and builders, as the council so often does now. It requires thinking about what rezoning will mean for our resources, our infrastructure, our traffic and our quality of life.
Currently our Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission and our Sussex County Council treat zoning as a mere speed bump as they sign off on rezoning for virtually every project that comes before them. Yes, times and needs change, and a prudent rezoning is occasionally warranted. But if we take smart growth seriously, we must also take our zoning standards seriously. If we want continuity with the Sussex County we love, we must take the “E-Z” out of rezoning. Leslie Ledogar will make that her first item of business.
John Schwanky
Mary Schwanky
Lewes
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
