Seen on a NEWS JOURNAL BLOG:

Mind-boggling development moves forward

The areas surrounding the sleepy little town of Milton, population 2,000 and located along the picturesque Broadkill River in northeast Sussex County, are about to suffocate the historic hamlet. The Sussex County Builders' Consortium, also known as the County Council, approved a 3,700-unit development just outside town. This will be combined with another planned development of more than 1,600 houses. That's 5,340 new living units surrounding Milton! In the understatement of the year, the Milton mayor said "we're against it."

Posted by Ron Williams @ 9:55 AM

http://www.delawareonline.com/blogs/otherhand/blog.html

Members of the SUSSEX COUNTY PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION,

An Advisory Board to the SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL,

Appointed by members of the SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL:

 

Robert C. Wheatley, 38375 Old Stage Road, Delmar, DE 19940 

Michael B Johnson, 13 Bridgeville Rd., Georgetown, DE 19947 

Benjamin Gordy, 5246 Watson Rd, Laurel, DE 19956 

Rodney Smith, 311 Ocean Pines Lane, Bethany Beach, DE 19930 

Irwin G. Burton III, 30820 Edgewater Drive, Lewes, DE 19958 

 

Here's the Best Thing You Can Do RIGHT NOW to HELP SUSSEX COUNTY

Get  involved in the 2008 SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL ELECTION --

no matter where you live in Sussex .

THREE of FIVE seats (a controlling number) are open for election in 2008. They are districts ONE, TWO and THREE:

1. •           1st DISTRICT: includes Seaford, Blades, Bethel Laurel, outskirts of Georgetown .  --   

Current councilman is DALE DUKES.

 

2. •           2nd DISTRICT: includes Southwest side of Milford , west side of Ellendale, Greenwood , Bridgeville and Georgetown .  --   

Current Councilman is FINLEY JONES.

 

3.  •           3rd DISTRICT: includes southeast side of Milford, Slaughter Beach, east side of Ellendale, northeast part of Georgetown, Broadkill, Lewes, south along west side of Rt. 24 toward Millsboro.  --   

Current Councilman is LYNN ROGERS.

 

ACTION! Talk to your friends, clubs, civic organizations, church, etc about finding candidates to run for these seats.

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cLICK HERE TO SEE CITIZEN COALITION'S COMMENTS ON PROPOSED LAND USE PLAN http://www.citizenscoalition.net/comments/CC%20Comp%20Plan%20comments%20315955.pdf

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CAPE GAZETTE 12/3/07 editorial

“Preserve value, not zoning

 

Sussex County’s comprehensive plan update will guide development and land use for the next five years.

 

The draft states the plan “does not represent a significant revision in the county’s land use policy. This Draft Plan also does not signal a shift in the county council’s overall view about the future of land development and land preservation in the county.”

 

More specifically, the draft plan envisions  no change  in the county’s AR-1 zoning, which allows  two homes per acre  in nearly all of Sussex County. Last week, state agencies, through the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service review, took direct aim at that philosophy, calling it critical that county officials  reconsider AR-1 zoning.

 

Director of the Office of State Planning Coordination Connie Holland seconded that view, saying based on this plan, 

“there is little tangible evidence that good planning will occur in Sussex County.”

 

State officials call on the county to establish zones where growth is encouraged and develop a timeline for proposed legislation to implement the plan.

 

But Sussex County officials remain fierce in their defense of property rights, asserting “many farmland owners … have built up significant equity in their land – in numerous cases through multiple generations.”

[See http://abettersussex.com/takings.html]

 

We agree.

 

Yet it would be sheer folly to assert that every privately held acre of Sussex County should have two homes on it.  Lines will eventually be drawn somewhere, and state officials insist

now is the time to draw them.

 

Even more than drawing lines, Sussex County needs leaders who are willing to make the difficult decisions that become necessary in periods of rapid growth.

 

Limiting growth in environmentally sensitive areas to, say,

one unit on 10 acres doesn’t necessarily reduce the value of that land;   in a supply and demand scenario, it could make it more desirable.

 

Managing growth, rather than simply hoping for the best, will protect everyone’s equity – and the quality of life that creates it.

 

Cape Gazette editorials are considered and written by members of the Cape Gazette editorial board which includes: Dennis Forney, publisher; Trish Vernon, editor; Kerry Kester, associate editor; Dave Frederick, sports editor; Laura Ritter, news editor; and Jen Ellingsworth, arts and entertainment editor.

 

Send a Letter to the Editor

Letters must be signed. Please include a telephone number and an address for verification. Please keep letters to 750 words or less. Write to Cape Gazette, PO Box 213, Lewes, Delaware 19958. FAX to 302-645-1664 or

 

Email newsroom@capegazette.com

Please type "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Thanks.”

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For more follow this link http://abettersussex.com/GROWTH.html

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Can Sussex 's serenity survive rapid growth? http://abettersussex.com/GROWTH.html