Updating of the NCC Comprehensive Plan

    New Castle County has started the process of updating their comprehensive plan.  Below is a quick summary of the perspective of a several members of the civic community who attended the first meeting, and a call to action to ensure that critical problems and issues of the past plan are openly and transparently addressed in this process. A summary of the meeting dates that have not yet been posted to the JMT/NCC website is also listed below.

A Summary Perspective from Kick Off Meeting

    The first meeting was held last week, and  left much to be desired in terms of constructive input.  It was essentially a stump speech from the New County Executive ( Paul Clark) a very limited presentation from NCC Land Use General Manager ( David Culver) , and a presentation from JMT Consultants who were hired to develop the plan.

     Most importantly, there was NO ASSESSMENT OF THE PAST PLAN, AND THE MAJOR ITEMS THAT WERE EITHER VERY POORLY IMPLEMENTED OR IGNORED BY COUNCIL.   Critical issues such as decoupling of transportation impacts from cluster development; the new, extremely  problematic redevelopment code; the very controversial and poorly designed workforce housing code; the lack of any meaningful input from citizens on community character considerations (see 9 DE 2603, it's in the State Code! );  the problems with the by-right zoning passed that provides a scapegoat for council to never have to be held accountable to poor development decisions; the complete failure of NCC Council to make any effort on Transfer of Development rights which was sold to the civic community as the critical tool to keep our gross density in balance; and a continued abrogation on the cost impact to State taxpayers on the resulting infrastructure costs,  etc. etc. etc.   Each of these issues deserves a stand alone meeting, and we should decide which of the meeting below we should attend and adamantly make it focus on these key problems, even if it means disrupting their meeting; flow and plans.  We must make sure the real problems are openly discussed and addressed, not broad sweeping activities that allow county officials to spread out the blame for the failures.

     When asked about the need for an assessment, the consultants incompetent response was simply "I think the county is working on developing that". 

      While it is unclear how much, if at all, we can have influence this process, we believe it is critical that we attend and raise our concerns.   If we are not comfortable with the process, let it be known at each of the meetings, tell them why, and keep recommending  alternatives. Specifically outline and delineate your objections, place them on the record! For example, is the county too large and the communities too diverse for this type of planning?   Wouldn't it be more useful and meaningful to conduct more 'place based' planning in the form of smaller planning districts for the various community types, social, and geographic settings of NCC?   The once size fits all approach used for the past several comprehensive plan updates has failed, so why keep using the same failed approach?

Comp Plan Meeting Information & Dates

      The consultant has put up a web site, which is where the propose to share information on the process.   The site is:

New Castle County Comprehensive DEVELOPMENT Plan Update


     A list of the meeting dates and topics was distributed, although it does not appear to have been posted to the website.  They start in January.   We encourage everyone to attend as many of them as possible to express your concerns in the manner you believe most effective, adamantly pressing your issues of concern.

* The handout indicated that "dates and/or topics are subject to change", so we will need to revisit items throughout the process.

All public meetings will be held in the multi-purpose room at the New Castle County Government Center - Gillian Building, 77 Reads Way, New Castle, DE 19720

Meeting Schedule (all in 2011) handed out at Dec. 2 Kickoff Meeting.

Jan. 12      Land Use
Jan. 26      Land Use
Feb. 9       Mobility and Transportation
Feb. 23     Water and Sewer
Mar.  9      Conservation and Natural Resources
Mar. 23     Historic Preservation and Housing
Apr. 13     Economic Development
Apr. 27     Community Design
May 11      Intra-Government Coordination
May 25      Inter-Government Coordination
Jun 8        Future Land Use Implementation Strategies

Chuck Mulholland