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Those who want to appear before the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission can take a number and get in line – and it’s a very long line.
The commission is at least 16 months behind schedule, and it’s looking for ways to catch up. Currently, the commission meets three times a month, so one way to speed up the process is to meet weekly, said Chairman Robert Wheatley.
The idea of meeting weekly was briefly discussed during the commission’s Thursday, Aug. 23 meeting after an official request came from Sussex County Council President Dale Dukes to look at ways to reduce the backlog.
Wheatley expressed the frustration the planners are feeling. “Sixteen months is a long time to wait for your number to come up,” he said. “And that’s not just for large developments. It’s too long for people to have to wait.”
Lawrence Lank, director of planning and zoning, said more new projects and requests for public hearings are coming in, which adds to the long schedule. He said the commission is hearing applications for public hearings that were requested in the middle of 2006.
Lank said the foundation for the backlog began when a 2004 moratorium was placed on subdivision applications. That caused a logjam of 100 subdivision applications in 2005 when the moratorium was lifted – about double the normal number.
“Applications have slowed down a little this year, but not enough to make a correction in the short term,” Lank said.
The commission reviews subdivision requests, rezoning and conditional-use applications as well as new and amended ordinances.
Wheatley said adding more meetings and scheduling of public hearings not only adds preparation time for the five commissioners but also requires more time by county staff.
“Looking at the staff obstacles makes me reluctant to even try this,” he said. “It looks like an impossible task.”
Lank said it wasn’t impossible, but the work required preparing for and the following up on public hearings, including typing the lengthy minutes from three- to four- hour meetings, is time consuming. He said it takes at least six hours to prepare minutes for a four-hour meeting. That doesn’t include staff time attending state and county agency meetings, reviewing applications, compiling information for commissioners and all other steps required for the public hearing process, Lank said.
“If we need more staff to do this, there is really no place to put them,” Lank said. The current staff stands at 16.
Commissioner Rodney Smith said the amount of paperwork and information disseminated by the commission and staff is sometimes overwhelming. He said the commission should take some time to look at options. “The solution is not obvious tonight,” he said.
Commissioner Michael Johnson jokingly used the “m” word. “Maybe we need a moratorium to catch up,” he said in jest.
The commission has discussed ways to streamline the process in the past, and an additional daytime meeting without public hearings was added and the nighttime meeting starting time was changed to 6 p.m.
The process is unpredictable. “There is no way to gauge the time it takes,” Lank said.
For example, a public hearing on Aug. 9 to discuss plans to expand a waterslide along Route 1 in Fenwick Island caught everyone off guard. The hearing took more than two hours of the 4 1/2-hour meeting.
In addition, the commission is in the process of rewriting the comprehensive land use plan, which will require additional meetings and public hearings.
And commissioners are getting behind in that process as well. They voted to ask state planners for a six-month extension beyond the expected Oct. 1 completion deadline.
Commissioners will discuss the extra-meeting request at a future meeting.
Contact Ron MacArthur at ronm@capegazette.com
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