CLNCC Asks Why Is NCC Directing The State To Add CR Zoning To CCEDs In HB 18?

My first lobbying of the 151st General Assembly on behalf of CLNCC: 

Email sent March 9th to Rich Hall cc'd to Bill Dunn, and HB 18 sponsors Ed Osienski, Paul Baumbach, and Dave Sokola. I will post the NCC DLU GM's response when I recieve it.

Why is NCC directing the state to add CR zoning to CCEDs in HB 18?

Dear Rich, 

I have been meaning to reach out to you about why NCC DLU has crafted HB 18 (as I understand it, your department wrote the CCED revision bill) to include parecels zoned Commercial Regional (CR). 

No one as yet has offered to answer this question that I had put before state legislators on the committee call that you were on. I had hoped that you would have addressed the question directly in your comments to the committee that followed mine. The sponsor was not familiar with the CR clause when I asked about why the CR zoning category was suddenly to be considered for Complete Community Enterprise Districts.  

I also put the question before community members on the Sierra Club 'informational' meeting on the HB 18 legislation held after the bill was released from committee (link https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=318867596207296&ref=watch_permalink). My question was unfortunately characterized as "in the weeds" and again went unanswered by the panelists (James Wilson, Peggy Schultz, Jon Kirch). 

And, in looking at the lobbying activity around the bill as reported on the Public Integrity Commission website, several New Castle County lobbyists have been speaking to legislators about HB 18 presumably on behalf of the department and the county although a quick poll of some members of council show that council had no knowlege of any of this activity. 

I hope you will finally answer my question and can give me a sufficient rationale for including CR zoning for CCEDs. I ask "Is there any specifc record plan or CR zoned parcel that is poised to move forward with a project under CCED?"

You had mentioned on the call to the House committee that the City of Newport had expressed an interest in implementing a CCED in their comp plan discussions. But Bill Dunn who attended these meetings noted that he had no recollection of CCEDs coming up in those conversations

CR zoning was deliberately excluded from consideration for CCED in the original SB 130.. 

Why is this now in play? 

Thank you for your kind attention,

Nancy 

Nancy Willing

CLNCC President and Lobbyist

302 294-1939

By way of this email and its cc's to legislators, I will be updating my CLNCC lobbying activity report to reflect action around HB 18. 

While we appreciate the great benefits for public health etc. around this issue of walkable communities, CLNCC is perplexed at how CCED and CR zoning are a good fit. We believe the county should share their reasoning and reveal any current plans that will benefit from it.

The CR zoning inclusion was not mentioned in the bill's synopsis and so had gone unnoticed by most folks. 

House Bill 18, 151st General Assembly  

TITLE 2 Transportation Transportation Department CHAPTER 21. Complete Community Enterprise District

2016 The First State: Delaware Passes Innovative “Complete Communities” Bill