State unveils new spending maps

Some Lewes residents say proposed maps to guide state spending will encourage development on the fringes of Lewes.

The Office of State Planning Coordination is holding meetings statewide this month to educate the public on updates to the Strategies for State Planning and Spending, a document that forms the basis for setting priorities in state spending.

The strategies contain maps based on current, updated data, said Office of State Planning Coordination Director Connie Holland. She said the maps are not to be used as zoning documents for local jurisdictions making land-use decisions, but residents point out that developers do just that when they make their cases for approval of new projects.

In its recent response to a Preliminary Land-Use Service response for the proposed Gills Neck Village Center, project engineer Ring Lardner noted the property at the corner of Kings Highway and Gills Neck Road falls within Level 1 of the Strategies for State Planning and Spending maps.

Level 1 areas are classified as established municipalities with sufficient existing infrastructure. The size of the municipality does not matter; Lewes, Milford, Dover and Wilmington are all classified as Level 1.

Lewes resident Dave Ennis says the Village Center property was changed from Level 2 and 3 to Level 1 during the state's 2010 update of the document. He recalls very little public outreach to educate citizens vehemently opposed to the project of the changes.

“I have no question that they followed the rules, and it is correctly listed as Level 1,” he said.

“The quietness by which that was done shocks me,” Ennis said.

He said he learned from the state that road improvements made for developments along Gills Neck Road sparked the change to Level 1. But, he said, “There are flaws.”

“Even though they've made updates, there is much more room for improvement to protect surrounding environments and open space,” he said.

Levels guide state spending

At an Oct. 14 meeting at the Lewes Public Library, Holland answered questions from concerned members of the public.

“Being Level 1 or Level 2 will not stop development; that has to do with rules and regulations,” Holland said. “All this has to do is where we'll be spending our money. If you don't want our money for roads or water towers or beach replenishment, you don't have to take it.”

Lewes resident Ric Moore questioned placing all established municipalities within Level 1 without accounting for a variety of factors, such as the Coastal Zone, which entirely encompasses Lewes.

“If you are intensifying development in Level 1, that seems inappropriate for something in a Coastal Zone area,” he said.

Holland said Coastal Zone maps have been taken out of the planning and spending document, but the state's sea-level rise map and Flood Risk Adaptation Map are now included in the 2015 update.

When development is proposed, Holland said, the PLUS process gives each state agency an opportunity to comment on the viability of the project. In a case where a project falls within the Coastal Zone, she said, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control would likely make comments. However, that does not always prevent a board from approving a project, she said.

“Our office several times has said we don't want development in a certain area in a certain county, and they've approved it,” she said. “The approval is with the local jurisdiction; it's not with us.”

Levels 1, 2 and 3 are areas where the state will support growth. According to the document, Levels 1 and 2 are the areas where the state encourages local government land-use policies that promote higher densities and mixed-use development. The maps are not parcel based, Holland said, and all zoning and land-use decisions remain with the local jurisdiction.

Level 4 areas are where the state will support agriculture, protection of natural resources and open space protection. Out of Play areas are lands not available for development.

The data collected to create the maps changes between updates.

Overbrook site in Level 4

Of note in the Cape Region is an area that was downgraded since the 2010 update: the land where a developer has proposed to build Overbrook Town Center. Shown as Level 3 on the 2010 map, the draft maps for 2015 label the area Level 4, where state spending is not encouraged.

Holland says the maps are entirely data driven and changes to the map, whether upgrading or downgrading, are not likely to happen.

"That's not something that's going to occur because of the way the data set is put together," she said.

Rich Borrasso, Red Fox Run resident and member of the Overbrook Town Center Coalition, says his organization is very supportive of the state's updated maps. He said that while the record is closed on the application, Sussex County Council should consider reopening the record to allow for the new data.

"Clearly a lot goes into a decision of this magnitude," he said. "We all know this is the biggest commercial enterprise ever in Sussex County. Why would you not take into consideration better information?"

The public is invited to comment on the plan until Wednesday, Nov. 4. Comments may be made at www.stateplanning.delaware.gov or by mail to Office of State Planning Coordination, 122 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. S., Dover, DE 19901.

A video presentation of the plan as well as further information is available at http://redclay.wra.udel.edu/strategies.