New players for a new plan 10 years later

I was writing stories 10 years ago when the planning and zoning commission and county council went through the process to draft the 2008 comprehensive plan. There is no comparison to the process that is taking form as Sussex County officials write the 2018 plan.

County administration and the planning and zoning department is practically all different. County Administrator Todd Lawson and Planning and Zoning Director Janelle Cornwell were not around a decade ago. Only three of the 10 members of county council and planning and zoning commission were in office when the last plan was written. Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Bob Wheatley was appointed in 1995; Councilman George Cole was elected in 1986; and newly elected Councilman I.G. Burton was a member of planning and zoning a decade ago. The county has even hired different consultants.

The planning and zoning commission – charged by state law to draft the plan – has three new members appointed this year.

Many of the people who are showing a keen interest in this plan did not live here 10 years ago.

Developing the plan is an arduous two-year ordeal that requires hundreds of hours of county staff and legal team time. The taxpayers foot a bill of about $270,000 when it's all said and done. A huge chunk of that goes to pay consultants McCormick Taylor.

Many are convinced that the idea of working on another plan drove long-time Sussex Planning and Zoning Director Lawrence Lank into retirement. He worked on every plan the county has had since plans were initiated more than four decades ago.

The cover of the 2008 plan contains the word “update,” so maybe it's not completely fair to compare what is occurring today to what occurred 10 years ago. There is no doubt that officials want this new plan to be rewritten as much as possible. Planning and zoning commissioners want a line-by-line comparison of the two plans.

The commission – with Commissioner Marty Ross leading the pack – is in the process of setting up a series of workshops over the next few months. Adding their two reagulr monthly meetings, the commissioners are going to be busy.

There is something else taking place as this plan comes into focus. There is more opportunity for public input, which was limited last time around. State planners were critical of the county for not involving the public to a greater extent.

Residents can comment via the county's website and speak at twice-monthly planning and zoning commission meetings. Another round of countywide public meetings will take place in late April or early May to be followed by other public meetings as chapters of the plan are drafted.

And the public is showing more interest. The grassroots Sussex Alliance for Responsible Growth is getting the word out in an attempt to engage more residents in the process. Their website is sarg2018.org.

The bottom line of the success of this new plan will be how much of that public input will actually end up in the plan's new chapters and ordinances.

I've heard criticism of the process so far, but trust me, it's a far cry better than what took place 10 years ago. Go to sussexplan.com for more information.