 |
|
Levy Court comments on latest growth plan By Melissa K. Steele Levy Court Commissioners weighed in on a few items March 24 that they may want changed in the final draft of the county’s comprehensive plan. Road widths for emergency vehicles was an issue for Commissioner Allan F. Angel and Commissioner Harold K. Brode wasn’t happy with the lot sizes for small developments outside the growth zone, but it was Commissioner Eric L. Buckson who voiced the most concern over the county’s future growth plan. The comprehensive plan is designed to outline the county’s growth plan for the future and changes to the latest plan were the result of public input from workshops and suggestions made by the comprehensive plan working group, said Kent County Planner Director Sarah Keifer. The latest changes largely involve densities. The transfer of development rights program, allowing developers to purchase units in areas marked for preservation in order to build higher density developments in the growth zone areas, is encouraged in the latest draft plan but no longer mandatory. The density increased from 1 to 1.5 units per acre for most zoning areas but in order to get the higher numbers, Keifer said TDRs would be encouraged. The placement of a high-density town zoning designation that could allow as many as seven units per acre with TDRs should be placed only around existing developed areas that have the infrastructure to support it, Buckson contends. For example, he said he doesn’t believe the county should allow a 250-home development to be built in areas removed from existing development. “I have a hardship of that many homes,” he said. “Our towns should max out at five.” Overall, the county’s plan is to “preserve the rural and community character of Kent County by encouraging the most appropriate use of land, water, and other resources that protects the County’s natural, historic, and cultural resources, allows for economic opportunity, preserves farmland, manages growth and provides a safe sustainable environment in which all citizens may live, work, shop, learn, and play,” as stated in the introduction. “The vision statement is the only thing that hasn’t changed from the beginning,” said Kent County Administrator Michael Petit de Mange, adding it’s a matter of working out how the county will meet that goal. The latest changes to the comprehensive plan are available at the county website by visiting www.co.kent.de.us/Departments/Planning/Zoning/compplanupdate.htm. Public hearings on the plan are scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, at the Regional Planning Commission meeting and another at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at the Levy Court hearing – both to be held at the Levy Court complex on Bay Road.
|
|
|
