Sussex County Comprehensive Plan

Strengthening agriculture. Protecting open space. Fostering more affordable housing. Encouraging ‘greener’ construction. All are worthy concepts. And they are just some of the many goals of the newly adopted Sussex County Comprehensive Plan Update, a five-year plan that outlines Sussex County’s vision for itself in the future, and how best the county and its people can make that vision a reality.

The Sussex County Council adopted the plan, known as the 2007 Comprehensive Plan Update, on June 24, 2008. The adoption followed more than 18 months of public meetings, planning sessions and numerous draft revisions, all in an effort to shape the document into its final form. A copy of the adopted plan can be found here.

Beginning in January 2007, Sussex County and consultant Urban Research & Development Corp. of Bethlehem, Pa., embarked on the task of updating the County’s comprehensive plan. This document, among other things, serves as the standard for how development will proceed and how land use will be governed over the course of the next five years.

Such plans are used by local governments to not only establish land-use policies and identify growth areas, but also to give consideration to various other community concerns, such as affordable housing availability, agriculture preservation, open space protection, historic preservation, economic development and transportation mobility.

Delaware law mandates that all counties and municipalities have a comprehensive plan in place. Counties and municipalities must review their plans every five years, and submit the plans to the State for certification.

This newest plan updates the comprehensive plan last adopted in 2002.

In the coming months, Sussex County will begin work on approximately two dozen ordinances necessary to implement the plan’s vision and give it the force of law. Ordinances will be subject to public hearings.

The Sussex County Council encourages the public to remain involved in this process as the next phase begins. In the meantime, we thank you for your continued interest in Sussex County and in its future.