State delays vote on 2025 strategies plan
The Cabinet Committee on State Planning Issues canceled a Dec. 15 meeting where it was scheduled to vote on a five-year plan setting spending priorities.
The governor’s office needed more time to review the agenda items, said David Edgell, director of the Office of State Planning Coordination, whose office drafted the proposal. No new date has been set.
In anticipation of the meeting, state agency officials met Dec. 9 with Sussex County Council to outline the draft document that would guide how the state assists municipalities in achieving their land-use goals and to solicit county comments.
Completion of the 2025 Delaware Strategies for State Policies and Spending is about six months behind the original schedule.
More time was needed to acclimate the administration of Gov. Matt Meyer, who took office in January. Also, Sussex County, the fastest-growing county in the state, spent most of the year creating proposals to control housing development, and the state wanted to consider them in its strategies plan.
Among state officials attending the Dec. 9 meeting were Nikko Brady, a senior staff member in Meyer's office; Department of Transportation Secretary Shante Hastings, Department of Agriculture Secretary Don Clifton; and Edgell.
Edgell's office drafted the 55-page strategies plan after three public meetings, and reviews of 80 comments and recommendations from residents and local officials. All responses to those comments are available on his agency’s website.
The cabinet committee met Nov. 10 and released the latest draft.
The plan added two maps, based on suggestions it received, which provide greater insight into the investment levels and support implementation of the strategies, state officials said.
“Our goals for the State Committee on State Strategies are smart growth, and that equals efficient spending, affordable housing, environmental resiliency, land conservancy and economic development,” said Dorothy Morris, circuit-rider planner for Sussex County in Edgell’s office. “Those are the goals of the state cabinet committee, and that's what we look at when we're doing the state strategies.”
The state plan is based largely on the comprehensive plans created by the counties and local municipalities.
“We need the state priorities so that when your comp plans are done, we can help you grow, and it is a partnership, and we can afford the growth that's going to happen,” Morris said.
The Office of State Planning Coordination has consistently opposed large subdivisions within rural areas of the county.
Housing sprawl has burdened roads, schools, healthcare providers and emergency services, and the environment.
Sussex County’s next 10-year comprehensive plan is due by the end of 2028, but council decided to begin work soon because of the many issues related to booming residential development.
A land-use reform working group finalized 20 recommendations this fall. County council members say they want to begin to work on implementing short- and long-term goals. Some will be included in the comprehensive plan.
One of the primary goals is to steer development away from rural areas of the county, where the state strategies plan does not anticipate growth.
An analysis by the state conducted for the strategies plan found that could be accomplished in Sussex County while still meeting the need for new homes. There is three to four times as much land outside the most rural areas than would be needed for home construction through 2045.
Edgell said while the analysis shows the land is available, the state is not encouraging urban-scale development. It demonstrates the real estate market can work within the comprehensive plan, he said.
In recent years, more than a quarter of housing construction in Sussex County has occurred in rural areas.
Edgell, a member of the county working group, said it became clear during the group’s meetings that the county needs to encourage housing development in more densely developed areas and in transportation improvement districts. Infrastructure improvements in TIDs are coordinated by the state and partially funded by developers.
The draft is available online at stateplanning.delaware.gov/strategies/documents/2025-state-strategies-draft.pdf.
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.
