The Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination is updating the 2004 Delaware Strategies for State Policies and Spending. The Strategies are used to coordinate land use decisions made locally with infrastructure and service provision by the state. As part of the update process, the office is collecting data on suitable areas for development, preservation, and protected lands. This data will be analyzed using GIS mapping and classified into levels and categories. Public workshops will be held in June and July to gather feedback on the draft updated Strategies before presenting to the Cabinet Committee on State Planning Issues and the Governor for approval in September.
Updating the Strategies for State Policies and Spending
1. Update to the 2004 Delaware Strategies for State Policies and Spending Public Workshops June 2010
2. Delaware Facts Number of Counties 3 Number of Municipalities 57 Land area – square miles 1,953 Land area – acres 1,249,920 Farm land – acres 490,000 Persons per acre 0.7 Population, 2009 estimate 885,122 Lane miles of highways 13,403
6. 100% School Transportation State’s Largest Police Force 90% State Roads 60-80% of public school construction 70% of public school operation 40% Paramedics
8. Why Update Called for in original Strategies To reflect local certified comprehensive plans To use current data and technical tools And reevaluate and refine state policies
9. Our update process Data collection Consult with state agencies, MPOs, counties, local governments GIS – apply appropriate map overlays, including certified comprehensive plan maps Public Workshops Review of draft document and maps Approval by the Cabinet Committee and the Governor
22. The Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination Projected Timeline Public workshops June/July Redraft based on workshops July/August Final Presentation to CCSPI September Governor approval of Strategies September Final document posted to Website with limited printed copies October
23. State Web Sites Office of State Planning Coordination : stateplanning.delaware.gov State Spending Strategies: stateplanning.delaware.gov/strategies/strategies.shtml
24. Comments Comments Deadline:July 16, 2010 Send to: Office of State Planning Coordination Haslet Armory 122 William Penn Street Dover, DE 19901 Email comments to: stateplanning@state.de.us Fax to: 302.739.6958
25. Contact Information Kent County David Edgell, AICP david.edgell@state.de.us New Castle County Herb Inden herb.inden@state.de.us Sussex County Bryan Hall, AICP bryan.hall@state.de.us Data and Mapping Michael Mahaffie mike.mahaffie@state.de.us
Notas do Editor
The Cabinet Committee for State Planning Issues was pulled together to help coordinate land use planning issues among state agencies. The Office of State Planning Coordination serves as staff to that Committee.
Unlike many states, Delaware provides much of the funding for, and in some cases the management of, major public saervices.
State agencies use the Strategies in reviews under the Preliminary Land Use (PLUS) and in their Budget work. Some agencies use the Strategies to help plan services and facilities. The Strategies also help in the development of local comprehensive plan updates.
We started with all the factors we could identify and map that support new development and redevelopment. Added together, they show, in varying shades, those areas that are appropriate for growth. (The darker the shade, the more appropriate).
Next, we collected all the factors we could identify and map that support identify lands appropriate for preservation or agricultural development. Added together, they show, in varying shades, those areas that are less appropriate for growth. (The darker the shade, the more less appropriate).
We also collected maps of all lands that are taken “out of play” by purchase of development rights, easements, public ownership and other factors.
Combining these factors all together results in a grid-map of the state in which each grid-cell has a score reflecting the sum of all the factors collected. We then classify those score into 4 levels so as to have Levels 1, 2 and 3 match, as closely as possible, county and municipal growth areas. That gives us the first draft of a Strategies Map.
The next step involves comparing this draft map with earlier versions and with county and local comprehensive plans. Those comparisons, and lessons learned from a series of public meetings, will guide any refinement of the draft map.
The draft map – and the draft Strategies document – are organized around four “levels” and the “out of play” areas.
Level 1 areas are mostly developed, functioning towns and town-like areas. In these areas, there will be in-fill development and redevelopment.
Level 2 areas are places where county and local governments are creating master plans and developers are starting to create new town-like areas and extensions of existing towns.
Level 3 areas are places where growth is expected in some years or where there is large-lot development already occurring.
Level 4 lands are places where the state should work to preserve open space and to protect and promote agriculture (Delaware’s largest industry).
Out of play lands include parks and wildlife preserves, tidal wetlands, and lands for which development rights have been purchased or transferred.
The State Strategies for Policies and Spending – both the existing document and map and the DRAFT document and map are available on-line.
We need your comments and input. Please let us know your thourghts by mid-July. You can mail them, e-mail them, or fax them.