The Sussex Alliance for Responsible Growth is pleased that Sussex County Council has approved and signed the revised Sussex County/DelDOT Memorandum of Understanding on Land Use Coordination. SARG was instrumental in bringing the original, outdated 1988 MOU to the public’s attention, contributing to this greatly needed update.
The newly adopted version should improve planning for and the management and mitigation of the increased traffic that accompanies new development. It provides for more transparency in the coordination process between the county and DelDOT; provides for a greater emphasis on the establishment and enforcement of LOS standards; establishes the ability for DelDOT to recommend phasing new development to allow for infrastructure improvements to match the growth.
SARG commends the county for its efforts to revise this document, but it is our opinion that the latest county revision does not go far enough to improve the clarity and effectiveness of the MOU now and in the future. Some are easily corrected while others are more complex. Some notable examples:
• Throughout this draft there are many generic references to Sussex County making decisions but never clarifying who makes those decisions.
• The new MOU still tends to consider property owners’ rights as a higher priority than the rights of the public.
• In several sections, the county may make critical decisions regarding Levels of Service and other conditions impacting the public but no objective standards, criteria and/or a clear public process for determining an outcome is provided.
Sussex County can no longer claim they have no responsibility for remediation of traffic congestion. The revised MOU clearly gives the county the authority as well as the responsibility to be more proactive in cooperating with DelDOT to better predict and resolve traffic mitigation issues as well as providing more transparency to the public.
SARG will continue to monitor the implementation of the new MOU and hopefully have the opportunity to work with the county and all stakeholders to fully implement the provisions of the new MOU.
Thanks to all who followed this important accomplishment and especially those who stepped up and spoke out!
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