Planning for States and Nation/States: A TransAtlantic Exploration
th
th
15 - 16 October 2012
UCD Newman House, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2
Constance Holland’s comments of Small Wonder:
Delaware’s Quiet Emergence into Innovative State Planning
paper by Professor Rebecca Lewis
First, I would like to sincerely thank the Lincoln Institute and all the sponsors for
including Delaware in this symposium. It is a great honor! Also many thanks to Rebecca Lewis,
PhD for her very detailed document and her many hours of research to clearly explain the
evolution and process of planning in Delaware.
Comments I would like to include would be some history regarding House Bill 255
regarding the certification of comprehensive plans and the Strategies for State Policies and
Spending document.
Around 2000 – 2001 there was a public outcry regarding local jurisdictions annexing
large tracts of land into their jurisdictions without infrastructure to support the anticipated
growth. As was stated in the paper, Delaware (the State) pays for 90% of the infrastructure that
supports growth; i.e., roads, schools, emergency services. Then Governor Minner requested that
the planning staff work to formulate legislation which would allow towns/municipalities to grow
but to assure that infrastructure would be in place or at least projected to support the growth.
When HB255 passed part of the regulation state that no annexation could take place unless the
property was delineated in the most recently certified comprehensive plan and that a Plan of
Services must be evaluated and accepted by the State prior to annexation. The Plan of Services
explains how the municipality intends to service the annexed are with sewer and water as well as
police and fire assistance. This cannot be a “we think” proposal; it must be signed off by the
companies or departments that are in charge of water, sewer, police, and fire. The system does
work but has had some challenges because of public and private providers.
As noted, 3 towns
do not have “certified” plans, but please note that these towns have little to no government
(planning commissions, etc) and no intention or desire to annex.
Also, before HB255 only New Castle County’s comprehensive plan had “force of law”.
With the passing of the bill, any deviation from the certified plan could result in litigation which
no local jurisdiction wanted. There was an issue with a local town (Smyrna, DE) wanting to
annex into New Castle County. The county objected to the annexation and the plan was not
certified by the Governor. The issue did go to the dispute resolution committee and after about
18 months the matter was resolved with a compromise. Smyrna lost a significant amount of
funding during this period (grants from State). This is the only example since the bill was passed
in 2001. We in Delaware planning consider the legislation a success.
Regarding the Strategies for State Policies and Spending (State Strategies) - it has
always been my recommendation that the State Strategies be law and not policy because it is
made up of certified comprehensive plans but to date it is still a policy all State agencies are told
to rely on when giving grants, building State facilities, etc. It is now; however, law (29 DelCode
§7525) that no new school can be built in a Level 4 area as defined by the State Strategies.
There is a process whereby all school sites are reviewed through PLUS and the Secretary of
Education, the Director of OMB, and the Director of State Planning have to sign off on the site
for the school.
Another note that was not available when Rebecca researched our State was the
Committee to research and discuss Sea Level Rise in Delaware. The State has had a committee
of very knowledgeable people, including State and municipal employees, developers, business
owners, environmentalists, and others for approximately one year. The hope is to inform
residents of Delaware and prepare a map that will be part of future comprehensive plans as well
as the next Strategies for State Policies and Spending document. The map is for public
awareness and as of this date no State regulations are attached, but it is hopeful this information
will be useful for our coastal communities regarding locations of homes, businesses, and
evacuations.
Climate change is also a big discussion in the Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control (DNREC) and I am sure we will se more committees and discussions
considering our location.
(http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/coastal/Documents/SeaLevelRise/AssesmentForWeb.pdf)
Finally, the Office of State Planning is working with the University of Delaware on
measuring our data (fiscal analysis).
We believe the recommendations included in the report just discussed are very valid. We
may not be able to achieve all of them but my thought is “if you think you can, you can and if
you think you can’t, you won’t” We will continue to quietly move forward.
Thanks so much for this wonderful opportunity.