The Committee of 100 | FYI Archives

Wilmington City Council, at its February 17th meeting, tabled Ordinance 04-096 which would create stormwater fees for properties in the City. The purpose of the ordinance is to bring equity to paying for improvements essential to address the City's combined sewer/stormwater system which, during heavy rain, sends untreated sewage into the Brandywine Creek and the Christina River.

Currently, sewer fees, based upon water consumption, are collected on all residential and non-residential properties served by sewer in the City. Recognizing that non-sewered parcels, as well as sewered parcels, produce stormwater runoff that, combined with sewer, must be treated by the City treatment plant and which, during heavy rains, leads to overflows, the Department of Public Works proposed recovering costs related to stormwater management, as well as to sewer treatment.

The ordinance institutes a stormwater charge for all parcels based upon class (residential parcels served by sewer, all other parcels served by sewer, and parcels not served by sewer) and upon parcel size (seven categories ranging from less that 0.1 acre to greater than 10 acres). The ordinance is income neutral, reducing sewer fees and introducing a new fee for stormwater management. All properties, including those with no sewer, will now have a stormwater management fee. Sponsor Kevin Kelly agreed to table the bill to allow the business community time to prepare language to provide credit for property owners who invest in stormwater management improvements.

This ordinance reflects not only the combined sewer overflow (CSO) problem in Wilmington which will take millions of dollars to address, but also, the ongoing problem of Wilmington's limited sources of income. With over 40% of City property exempt from property taxes (via government and nonprofit ownership) and with its sources of income limited by the State, the City must be afforded a new, substantial, and reliable source of income to make it economically viable into the future and to preclude ongoing imposition of new fees and taxes.

New Castle County Gets it Right!

Governor Mike Castle's Quality of Life Initiatives, Governor Tom Carper's Shaping Delaware's Future, Governor Ruth Ann Minner's Livable Delaware, and New Castle County's Unified Development Code (UDC) all call for growth to take place, first, in urban and already-developed areas where there is existing infrastructure, before extending into greenfields where new infrastructure must be provided. However, New Castle County, especially County Council, has, over the years, been too afraid to do just that. As soon as it was faced with a proposal for infill, no matter how responsible, no matter how much it conformed to both the State and County planning guidelines, it consistently caved to the protests of existing residents who wanted no development on any remaining open space in or near their communities.

The new County Council, at its February 8th meeting, courageously voted down a proposal to prevent infill and take away private property rights of land owners who wanted to legally build on their property in Sedgely Farms. When some property owners began the legal process to build on their property, other home owners tried to get the entire community down-zoned to make the minimum lot size so large that no new houses could be built on available open space. This attempt to stop infill not only violated the goals of the UDC, but also, attacked private property rights. Council members, in their comments before the vote, appeared to understand the importance of both issues. In contrast to the past, when Councils would have caved in to residents attending the meeting to oppose any further development (whether or not they were representative of the larger community), this Council just said, "No."

Patty Powell's Moratorium:
Department of Land Use and Planning Board Say "NO"!
County Council Next

At the February 15th meeting of the New Castle County Planning Board, the Department of Land Use recommended against approval of New Castle County Councilperson Patty Powell's Moratorium Ordinance (04-181) and the Planning Board unanimously concurred.

The mere introduction of this ordinance has already sent a negative message about the uncertainty of development opportunities in New Castle County (see December 2004 FYI). The Committee of 100 has argued that a resounding defeat of this Ordinance is needed to counter that negative message (see enclosed Planning Board testimony). With the Department's and Board's strong recommendations against this ordinance, we've taken step one. Step two will be to get a strong vote in Council against the moratorium.

Some Bills in the General Assembly to Ponder

Senate Bill 11, sponsored by Senator Adams and Representative Gilligan, would cap the proceeds from escheat which are deposited into the General Fund at $246,500,000, with the next $10,000,000 in escheat receipts going to the Transportation Trust Fund and the remaining going into a "Livable Delaware Infrastructure Fund." Money from the Livable Delaware Infrastructure Fund could only be used via appropriation within the State's Bond and Capital Improvement Act or the annual Appropriations Act or other act of the General Assembly. For FY 2006, the funds would be dedicated to "environmental and infrastructure projects within the FY 2006 Bond and Capital Improvement Act."

House Bill 41, sponsored by Representative Oberle, would give $10 million annually from video lottery revenues to the City of Wilmington "for its general purposes" and $10 million to the Twenty-First Century Fund for Farmland Preservation.

House Bill 12, sponsored by Representative Lavelle, removes the power to fill a vacancy on New Castle County Council from the New Castle County Executive and calls for a special election within 30 days.

Senate Bill 7, sponsored by Senator McBride and Representative Valihura, would amend the Delaware Constitution to give Delaware initiatives and referenda. Article II, '1. Section 1. would be changed from simply, "The legislative power of this State shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives," to "The legislative authority of the State shall be vested in a General Assembly, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives, but the people reserve the power to propose laws and amendments to the Constitution and to enact or reject such laws and amendments at the polls, independently of the General Assembly; and they also reserve, for use at their own option, the power to approve or reject at the polls any statue, law, resolution, item, or section, or any part of an Act or resolution of the General Assembly." The bill then provides for initiatives and referenda.