Milton works through new comp plan
An update of Milton’s 2010 comprehensive development plan has been in the works since 2014, but town officials now say the plan should be in force by 2020.
The town submitted the plan to the state in late 2017 and the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service, a collection of state agencies that reviews municipal comprehensive plans, weighed in with comments in February.
Town Manager Kristy Rogers said, “It’s been almost 10 years since the plan has been fully updated, and Milton has experienced growth and change in that time. Affordable housing, protection of the Broadkill River, and town services are a few of the priority topics of the plan.”
The town population increased by 44 percent from 2005 to 2010, from 1,780 to 2,576, and 19 percent more from 2010 to 2015. The town’s population stands at nearly 2,900 and the plan anticipates the population climbing above 3,000 by 2020.
To address the need for affordable housing, the plan update calls for seeking support from state and county sources to identify and implement programs to reduce financing, construction and operating costs for new and existing homeowners. Officials will also consider incentives to subdivision and site plan codes to encourage developers to provide affordable housing units.
The plan update also calls for studying parks and public open space, evaluating areas along the Broadkill River for boat and kayak launches and encouraging developers to include small parks or tot lots when developments are approved. A community center for teenagers will also be considered.
The plan calls for preparing and completing a study of the buffer area around the Broadkill River and implementing pollution control strategies to reduce nutrient and bacteria runoff.
In response to the plan, officials from Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control recommended studying the feasibility of upgrades to the town’s stormwater infrastructure to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and bacteria. They also asked the town to consider requiring stormwater review for new developments.
DNREC also requested a discussion of solid waste and recycling opportunities, in particular new facilities for collecting recyclables. DNREC also recommended the town require developers of residential and commercial properties exceeding 20 percent impervious surface to submit a mitigation plan to demonstrate the impervious surface will not impact groundwater recharge or water quality.
In its comments, Delaware Department of Transportation asked the town to address better connectivity, including the expansion of the town’s trail network, and to consider the effects of the new Bayhealth hospital in Milford and developments in the surrounding area. On the first point, town officials have begun the process of expanding the Rails To Trails from Federal Street to Lavinia Street in part to connect the town to the Wagamon’s West Shores development.
All told, the state agencies praised the town for its plan. Town officials are now working on addressing the state’s comments for the latest draft of the plan.
Milton received comments back from the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service in February, and Rogers said town officials are working to incorporate those comments into the newest version of the plan.
