Let’s turn attention to planning
Now that the election is over, the sheriff question is settled, and we have a sense of what the new county council will look like, it’s time to once again turn our attention to ratcheting up the level of professional planning for Sussex County.
We saw this summer’s traffic, and we’re watching as what we once thought were the limitless back roads of Sussex begin to carry more and more traffic.
Increasing pavement will mean more runoff into our waterways and stormwater problems between communities and neighbors. These problems aren’t unsolvable, but they need professional attention.
Our readers are all too familiar with this drumbeat. Sussex County Council’s first order of business must be advertising for and hiring a full-time professional planner to study our situation, and offer recommendations and advice - someone who will look at our overall picture as a county and help bring the various existing pieces and proposals together so we can proceed sensibly.
The Sussex approach should not be to hire just a professional, certified planner. Rather, council members should find the finest planner in this nation. Our property values, our future quality of life, and what we leave for our children and grandchildren are all at stake.
This gem in the heart of Delmarva deserves nothing less.
This is no cry to halt development. That is going to happen, with no end in sight. Let’s just develop intelligently. Kiplinger’s recent forecasting business paper noted that the housing market continues to gain steam. Low mortgage rates, higher demand from young people with increasing wages and employment, and easier credit are all fueling the rise.
Put that together with Delaware’s ranking among the nation’s top 10 tax-friendly states, and it’s no psychic feat to predict rapid growth pressuring our infrastructure and natural resources.
Council could sit back, let the county develop haphazardly, and watch property and transfer tax revenues rise steadily, while putting the real cost of development off on future generations. But that would be shortsighted, irresponsible and just plain wrong. Now is the time to act.
