Legislative Update

September 8, 2011

Dust-up over redevelopment obscures larger issue

Those who follow issues at the County level of government are familiar with the ongoing debate regarding redevelopment in New Castle County.  After months of debate and legislative wrangling, legislation was passed during the summer to amend the redevelopment language in the Unified Development Code (UDC) to address concerns over “paper redevelopment projects”, or projects which were classified as redevelopment when in fact the originally approved prior plan had not been built-out.   

The Chamber believes that there is a larger issue to address concerning land use in New Castle County: the time and expense involved in both traditional development and redevelopment.  

In the 2011 New Castle County Chamber of Commerce Legislative Program, the Chamber’s concerns are stated as follows:

Our state and our nation are emerging from the deepest recession in our lifetimes.  Between 2007 and 2010, unemployment doubled, tax revenue declined and businesses and households throughout our nation had to make difficult choices. 

As we emerge from these difficulties, it is imperative that New Castle County be positioned for growth and recovery.  Currently, it is not.   Put simply, it is currently too expensive and time-consuming for many employers to expand or locate in the unincorporated areas of New Castle County.  Outmoded anti-development attitudes, a land use code in need of revision and a regulatory process associated more with expense and delay than innovative, job-creating development, are at the heart of the problem.   

In order to facilitate economic growth, significant action is required on the part of New Castle County Government.  Delaware no longer competes with other states for jobs and investment; we now compete with the rest of the world.  In order to meet the challenges that competition brings, the Unified Development Code, and the land use and permitting process as a whole, must be reengineered to facilitate economic growth and job creation rather than acting as a barrier.   Our success in bringing about these changes will significantly impact the economic future of our county and our state. 

The words above were written earlier this year, when it seemed that the nation’s economy was recovering, albeit slowly, and that growth and employment would improve over the course of the year.   Now, as we emerge from a summer that included continued unemployment of over 9 percent nationally and 8.1 percent in Delaware, the worst stock sell-off since 2008, a downgrade of U.S. Treasuries by Standard and Poors and global economic uncertainty, it is now more apparent than ever that New Castle County and the State of Delaware must take steps to position our communities for economic recovery. 

We have been encouraged by many of the policies of the Markell Administration and by the action on the part of the General Assembly to cut taxes and pass legislation to promote growth and pave the way for new employers in our state.  We look forward to concrete steps being taken by the new leadership at DelDOT to improve operations.  We are particularly keen to see improvement in the area of intergovernmental cooperation with the counties where land use is concerned. 

It is time for a new approach at the County level too.  The process of opening, expanding and operating a business in New Castle County must be made substantially less costly and burdensome than the current process makes it. The Unified Development Code needs to be improved or replaced with a code that will not act as an impediment to job creation.  County Executive Paul Clark has frequently stated his desire to improve the process.   Efforts at doing so are often frustrated by interests who interpret much needed changes to the Code and the process as a step toward sprawl and overdevelopment.  

The fact of the matter is that there is an urgent need to change the Unified Development Code, improve the County’s administration and application of regulation, and to reduce the time, expense and uncertainty in the land use process.  The economic future of New Castle County and the State of Delaware depends on it.