On Tuesday, March 25th from 4:30 - 5:30 PM the Land Use Committee will be meeting and discussing a proposal to protect our state park lands.
Sponsored by Carter, Durham, Cartier, Toole, Caneco, and Tackett, this bill aims to create a new zoning category in the Unified Development Code to recognize publicly owned open space - parks and preserves - as the unique entity that they are. Currently, New Castle County has no zoning category for open space - or anything aside from residential, commercial, and industrial.
This is the 5th attempt in 15+ years for a bill of this kind, and since its predecessors have gotten closer and closer to passing, your voice is crucial to getting this bill passed and securing the protection of state park lands.
DNREC has opposed the four predecessors of this bill, as it would create more requirements and public processes to develop P parcels in the future - it imposes a standard of accountability that they, in the past, have not been interested in meeting.
While the passage of this bill will not automatically rezone the Auburn Valley State Park lands to a P zoning, it is an important first step!
If you are able to attend in person, it would be greatly appreciated! Having people physically in the room has proven to be a lot more impactful when it comes to getting a message across to our legislators. Please respond to this email to let us know if you plan to attend!
The meeting will be held at:
800 N. French St.
Wilmington, DE 19801
You can also click here to access the meeting via Zoom if you are unable to attend in person.
As always, we are grateful for your continued support in this years-long battle against land mismanagement.
