Please Vote On Tuesday! Plus, Civic League Survey Questions For County Council Candidates

CLNCC submitted these eight questions for the NCC Council District 2 Candidate Forum hosted by CCOBH and EB 100 civic umbrella groups: 

• Traffic impact from land development is controlled by UDC requirements for concurrency and adequate facility. Do you agree that level of service and traffic impact studies are fair measures in limiting development and why?

• Comprehensive planning is currently done in silos across the state separating unincorporated county lands from municipalities. Is this a sensible practice?

• School capacity is currently prohibited from consideration during the county land use application process. Do you support an effort to reverse this situation?

• Do you agree that growth of residential development is mostly responsible for increasing costs of county services and raising of property taxes?

• What can the county do to raise revenue other than increasing taxes?

• Affordable housing is a challenge in our county. Do you believe we are meeting our targets? Is NCC working directly with municipalities to meet goals?

• In a recent NCC survey, residents along the Route 9 corridor were asked if they would like to relocate given the opportunity. Do you support NCC taxpayers funding buyouts and relocation of entire communities?

• Do you believe residential communities should be paying to maintain their own storm water facilities or should the county continue its amnesty program? 

The forum moderators got in a few of the questions asked, but not all (Click HERE to view the forum). 

I also sent the Survey to council candidates Dave Carter and Dawn Lentz who are vying for the NCC Council 6th District seat. Ms. Lentz answered. Read her responses below.

Civic League for New Castle County Survey:

• Traffic impact from land development is controlled by UDC requirements for concurrency and adequate facility. Do you agree that level of service and traffic impact studies are fair measures in limiting development and why? - I'm very concerned about the development and lack of forethought into the traffic congestion that seems to be happening in lower NCC. It appears as if infrastructure is an after thought. How can our district (district 6) be able to handle the massive amounts of new residents when we build houses faster than roads?

• Comprehensive planning is currently done in silos across the state separating unincorporated county lands from municipalities. Is this a sensible practice?-I am having difficulty understanding this ambiguous nomenclature. Please clarify?

• School capacity is currently prohibited from consideration during the county land use application process. Do you support an effort to reverse this situation?-I support any efforts to make life better for our citizens and our environment. Our children are very important to me,  as well as our wildlife; it's integral to our future to know that we leave a better Delaware for future generations.

• Do you agree that growth of residential development is mostly responsible for increasing costs of county services and raising of property taxes?  - I'm not knowledgeable enough to clearly assign the blame of our property taxes being increased on new homes being built. That being said, the county needs property tax to fund our schools, police, and infrastructure, etc. In theory, new homes should ease taxpayers burden right? Why then, is it increasing? If elected, this would be high priority on my list of things I'd like to help correct.

• What can the county do to raise revenue other than increasing taxes?-This is a question I've spent quite a bit of time considering. How do we continue to fund the services we need while easing individual financial burdens? I'm a member of the Green party. We don't take corporate donations. We're the little guy. We have to get creative when it comes to raising funds. Every year, there are dozens of fairs and festivals. Why not invest more into these fun activities? The revenue from charging a nominal parking fee, vendor fees, plot rentals from businesses, etc. could ease the strain on individuals. How much revenue does firefly pull in yearly? Why not create our own music festival, complete with camping at one of New Castle's parks? 4 fairs/festivals a year could definitely help.

• Affordable housing is a challenge in our county. Do you believe we are meeting our targets? Is NCC working directly with municipalities to meet goals? - I feel that affordable housing in New Castle County can be obtained by the diligent. What I would like to see is more options opening up for homeless shelters that would educate residents to become financially independent. I am not aware whether or not New Castle county is working with municipalities to meet goals.

• In a recent NCC survey, residents along the Route 9 corridor were asked if they would like to relocate given the opportunity. Do you support NCC taxpayers funding buyouts and relocation of entire communities?- I am unaware of this survey, but it does raise questions in my mind. Without knowing why the survey was sent, I don't know that I would support relocating entire communities.

• Do you believe residential communities should be paying to maintain their own storm water facilities or should the county continue to amnesty program? - Part of the green party platform is decentralization, as it pertains to our government. Applying a similar principle to this question, I think it may be a better option for communities to oversee their own storm water facilities. In a more hands-on perspective, and also as it may ease individual tax burdens.