Sussex County News

Delaware roadway congestion will worsen and the condition of the state’s roads and bridges will deteriorate if state legislators don’t find a way to fund needed projects, two independent organizations reported this week.

Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commissioners on Wednesday denied approval of an updated plan for the expansion of 84 Lumber at their location off Route 26.

With space at the Sussex County administrative building and other county complexes becoming increasingly elbow-to-elbow, council members in January asked consultants at Studio J to look into the county government’s space needs — now and a modest two years into the future.

The public will have its first, and likely last, chance to comment on Sussex County’s $142 million budgetary plan for the 2008 fiscal year at 10 a.m. on Tuesday in county council chambers in Georgetown. Council will consider adopting the budget after Tuesday’s public hearing.

Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips (R-4th) introduced a long-awaited ordinance Tuesday that would allow county officials to trade density requirements in multi-family development plans on agricultural and sensitive county land for money.

Sussex County Council would have the power to charge developers a fee to help pay for new schools if legislators in Dover approve a state bill introduced last week. House Bill 118 is enabling legislation that would allow county officials to attach an additional fee to building permits — monies that would be used to cover the local share of capital building projects in county school districts.

Sussex County officials discussed an ordinance Tuesday that would allow developers of multi-family units to utilize an ordinance approved last April to exceed building density requirements by paying the county.

Balancing Sussex County property owners’ rights with the state’s request to protect sensitive land will be one of the biggest challenges for the authors of this year’s land-use plan update.

Sussex County officials currently updating the county’s growth plan will likely look to protect thousands of acres of county land by imposing restrictions on development there.
State maps drawn in September identified more than 38,000 acres of unprotected environmentally sensitive lands, including large blocks of forests, rare-species habitats and wetlands.

As the heart of winter hits the area, many residents of the area around the Little Assawoman Bay look out their windows on the natural surroundings and enjoy this quiet time at the shore.

Bethany Beach’s Planning Commission had on its agenda for Jan. 20 some early preparation for an annual update of the town’s comprehensive plan. However, much of the discussion at the Saturday-morning meeting focused not just on the town’s future plans but also on concerns about the potential impact of county-level planning decisions on Bethany and its environs.

Sussex County is on pace to receive about 20 percent less real estate transfer tax revenues in the 2007 fiscal year than it did in the 2006 fiscal year, in another reflection of a slumping real estate market in the area.

County officials will continue their tour throughout Sussex with a stop Tuesday at Selbyville Fire Hall for a 6 p.m. meeting to discuss future county growth and the pending comprehensive plan update. The state-mandated plan serves as a guiding document for county land-use decisions.

Dealing with changes to how state election law handles absentee ballot requirements was one of the top items on the agenda for Bethany Beach’s Charter and Ordinance Review Committee (CORC) at their Jan. 18 meeting. But action on the issue was put on hold as the town awaits additional guidance from the state attorney general’s office.

Bethany Beach’s Planning Commission had on its agenda for Jan. 20 some early preparation for an annual update of the town’s comprehensive plan. However, much of the discussion at the Saturday-morning meeting focused not just on the town’s future plans but also on concerns about the potential impact of county-level planning decisions on Bethany and its environs.

Whether Millville will have a general election this year remained unclear this week, as the filing deadline for town council candidacy — today, Friday, Feb. 2 — loomed. But there will be voting in the town on March 3, regardless, with a referendum set for property owners to vote on a possible de-annexation of portions of the Lord Baltimore Elementary School property.

Sussex County officials discussed on Tuesday reconsidering the way they allocate annual local law enforcement grants. The county provides identical $25,000 to each municipal law enforcement agency in Sussex for capital purchases each year but this week discussed basing grants on levels of development outside of town limits, building permit statistics or tax numbers.

Many residents of Fenwick Island and its nearby communities have been awaiting — and dreading — the day when Anthony Crivella might again request the Sussex County Board of Adjustments grant him a special exception for a billboard on his property north of Route 54, west of Dukes Avenue and adjacent to the Little Assawoman Bay.

On Monday night, Jan. 22, the Dagsboro Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) recommended to the town council approval of the final site plan for the Woodlands of Pepper’s Creek, a community consisting of 48 twin-homes just off Main Street.

Sussex County Council is considering going digital. Eddie Sparpaglione, the county’s director of information systems, presented the five-man council with a $20,000 plan Tuesday to install five touch-screen computers at the council desk to provide the councilmen easier access to information and to cut down on paper usage.

Ignoring Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations and instead accepting higher density, Sussex County Council members this week voted 4-1 to rezone more than 70 acres of AR-1 land south of Millville to GR-RPC for The Lakelyns, a proposed 265-unit, duplex/single-family-home development.

Sussex County Council presented the Delaware State Police with a ceremonial $1.4 million check Tuesday in the final annual extension of the decade-old partnership.

Possibly capitalizing on months — if not years — of dispute surrounding the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office and its duties, Democrat Eric Swanson unseated eight-year Sheriff Robert Reed on Tuesday, winning more than 53 percent of the vote.

Sussex County Council welcomed new state planner Bryan Hall (circuit-rider for Sussex) at the Oct. 31 council meeting, and Council Member George Cole (4th District) took the opportunity to press a little responsibility on Hall and the Office of State Planning Coordination (OSPC).

Sussex County engineering department officials unveiled a study this week, recommending that the county enhance sewage capacity along the northern Inland Bays and extend the area slated for central sewage there.