Growth on routes 9, 113 focus for state, Sussex
State and county officials outlined plans March 17 for a study to coordinate development along Routes 9 and 113 in Sussex County with state efforts to improve infrastructure to accommodate it.
Nikko Brady, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Matt Meyer; David Edgell, director of the Office of State Planning Coordination; and members of Edgell’s staff attended the county meeting. They and county Planning & Zoning Department Director Jamie Whitehouse explained the process.
“We identified these as corridors where growth is occurring,” Edgell said. “And we, as a state, are not as aligned as we’d like to be with what your land-use planning is, and we want to make sure we are working together as we’re planning for infrastructure and services.”
The planning process will initially focus on Route 9, where the greatest immediate development pressures are, and it would serve as a model for a similar study and planning for Route 113.
The review will look at Route 9 between Georgetown and Lewes, and Route 113 between Georgetown and Millsboro.
“We are going to work it as a collaborative team, sharing the responsibility between the county and the state working together as one team to do the study,” Edgell said.
Dorothy Morris, an Office of State Planning Coordination circuit planner covering Sussex County, said the state and county team will identify data that is available and determine what information is needed to look at in the future.
Whitehouse said they will simulate how development might be shaped by transportation, and the interrelationship among transportation and development and growth.
Four potential growth scenarios for the corridor, with differing rules, and a varying amount and density of growth, will be projected over 40 years, Whitehouse said. They will range from no planning to a full master planned corridor.
Morris said the Route 9 study would:
- Coordinate a master plan with the current county comprehensive plan
- Reach consensus on what density means for the Route 9 corridor
- Generate a land-use forecast to gauge infrastructure effects
- Coordinate forecasts with existing and proposed Transportation Improvement Districts
- Identify sufficient incentives and disincentives to ensure demand remains with the planned areas, to evaluate land reservation and preservation strategies
- Coordinate the master plan and transportation project prioritization and programming processes to provide realistic time frames for implementation.
Executive Order 16, signed Jan. 30 by Meyer, includes a study of transportation corridors in Sussex County. It is intended to address congestion, safety, land use and environmental concerns, aiming for better integration of transportation, development and sustainability.
The tentative schedule for the Route 9 study calls for public workshops in May and June; preparation of four draft scenarios and goals for master plan implementation in June and August; public hearings and adoption of a master plan in August and September; review of state strategies plan to reflect it in a master plan, as needed, in September or at least by the end of the year.
Morris said the state had planned a seven-month process, beginning in January, but a snowstorm and other issues delayed the schedule.
“I can tell you, this is my eighth year here, and this is good,” Councilman John Rieley said. “We’re finally getting there. It feels like we’re finally making some progress and refining our longer-term vision, so I’m excited about this.”
Morris said she has been a state circuit rider planner for the county for 13 years, and she is also excited by the progress.
Whitehouse said the process will help the county as it works on the next 10-year comprehensive land-use plan, due by the end of 2028.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
