Sussex County submits land-use plan to state
Facing a July 31 deadline, the Sussex County 2018 comprehensive land-use plan is ready to be submitted for review by the Delaware Preliminary Land Use Service.
The action comes after dozens and meetings and workshops by council and the planning and zoning commission that started in November 2016. Once the plan has been reviewed by state agencies, they will provide comments back to county officials who will then respond to the comments. A public hearing will also be scheduled; the plan is scheduled to be certified by the governor's office before the end of November.
At a July 24 meeting, Sussex County Councilman George Cole, R-Ocean View, asked Planning and Zoning Director Janelle Cornwell if a strategy was included in the plan to define farming, which is not defined in county code.
She said the language in the plan was broad enough to include a definition of a farm.
However, Cole said he would like to see a definitive strategy mentioned in the plan.
“Unless it’s cited specifically without a broad brush, it’s too easy for it to fall through the cracks,” Cole responded.
“You can still make minor changes after comments from the state and public,” Cornwell said.
Councilman Rob Arlett, R-Frankford, asked if taking time to make the change would delay submission of the plan to the state.
“We need to get to them as soon as possible,” Cornwell said.
Assistant county attorney Vince Robertson suggested that the plan be submitted as written and a strategy to define farming be added at a later date. “This is not the final draft. I’d like to see it get to the state. It will come back anyway with comments that council will have to address,” he said.
Cole asked staff to start writing the strategy to have it ready to be added to the plan. Cole said a specific definition of a farm would help county officials make better land-use decisions in AR-1, agricultural-residential, zoning districts.
Strategies are used by county council to write ordinances to amend code or enact new measures.
Councilman I.G. Burton, R-Lewes, agreed. “The plan provides doorways for council to go through, and we need wording to do that,” he said. “If we have the opportunity to add it later, it should be added.”
See the draft plan at sussexplan.com.
