Public appears to be OK with Rehoboth’s 2020 CDP
The Rehoboth Beach Planning Commission conducted a public hearing April 22 on the city’s 2020 comprehensive development plan, and if the number of comments is any indication – zero – the public appears to be satisfied with the document.
The meeting was a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting. No member of the public participated online and Mayor Stan Mills was the only member of the public in person.
Mills declined to speculate on why additional comments on the CDP weren’t submitted nor anyone spoke at the meeting. However, the city has made good-faith efforts to ensure there has been ample opportunity for public comment, he said in an email April 25.
The city anticipates more opportunities for public comment when the board of commissioners takes up consideration of the document, Mills said.
During the planning commission meeting, Chair Micheal Bryan reminded his fellow commissioners the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service review said there were three things that needed to be changed for approval and another list of recommended changes. The three required changes to be included are comments from surrounding jurisdictions, the addition of a missing information table and a reminder that if a property is annexed it must be zoned according to the city’s future land-use map.
The planning commission has scheduled a meeting for Friday, April 29, to continue its formal review of the state’s PLUS comments. Bryan said the group will take public comments up to the meeting.
The planning commission has scheduled a meeting for Friday, May 13, to formally give its blessing and pass it along to city commissioners.
Anticipated city commissioner schedule moving forward
Rehoboth officials have been working on the CDP since late 2018 and have received two year-long extensions to complete it. They must submit it to the state for final review by the end of July or face penalties.
During a commissioner workshop April 4, Mills reviewed the anticipated schedule for commissioners to meet the deadline.
In anticipation of the planning commission’s May 13 approval, special commissioner meetings have been set for Tuesday, May 17, and Tuesday, May 24. Both dates include possible afternoon sessions. A possible third meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 31.
Mills said the CDP would have to be resubmitted to PLUS for a second review by June 1 if the commissioners make any significant changes to the document. If the document is not resubmitted to the state, he said, the commissioners would continue with special Tuesday meetings through June, as needed until completion.
The schedule gets much more hectic if there are significant changes recommended. There’s a PLUS meeting Wednesday, June 22. Mills said comments from the state would be expected to be received by the city the week of July 18. If that happens, he said, commissioners would have meetings July 22, July 26 and July 29. All include possible afternoon sessions.
“I can’t say how much time we’re going to need for this. We have to be flexible,” Mills said. “This is the safe route, because we absolutely don’t want to be the ones who cause it to be delayed and miss our deadline date.”
Commissioner Susan Gay reminded everyone new that this go-around is adoption of the CDP by ordinance, which would mean coming to a voting meeting with the ordinance ready to vote on.
