The Committee of 100 | FYI Archives

Just as the General Assembly decided that it would not fully fund the Transportation Trust Fund, Delaware got hit with three reports in a row citing problems with its transportation system. On June 19th, TRIP, a nonprofit organization that researches, evaluates, and distributes condition information on transportation systems, released The Cost of Traffic Congestion in Delaware: The State’s 25 Worst Traffic Jams and Needed Steps to Relieve Traffic Congestion. TRIP found that drivers traveling I-95 from Roue 273 to Route 141 spend an extra $1,015 annually from congestion delays, wasting 59 hours and 36 gallons of fuel each year. Route 1, from Route 273 to the I-95 Interchange costs commuters $778, wasting 45 hours and wasting 27 gallons of fuel. The TRIP report calculates the cost in dollars, time, and fuel to commuters of Delaware’s top 25 most congested intersections and routes. Because the methodology can’t calculate the built-in delays of toll stops, the I-95 Toll Booths, one of Delaware’s worst points of congestion, was not included. The TRIP report noted that Delaware’s population increased 28% between 1990 and 2006 while vehicle travel increased 45% between 1990 and 2005, one year earlier (latest data available). The average rush-hour trip takes 32% longer than non-rush hour, and 33% of Delaware’s urban Interstate and other highways are congested. TRIP also reported that the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) has a $1.5 billion shortfall for Fiscal Year 2008-2013. While the General Assembly has just increased some fees, tolls, and taxes, they fall far short of full funding of the TTF.

The ink on the TRIP report wasn’t even dry before the Delaware Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ report card update on Delaware’s infrastructure said that without adequate funding of the Transportation Trust Fund, Delaware’s transportation system will deteriorate, with grades for highways falling from C to D, bridges from B to C-, and mass transit from C to D by 2010. One week later, the Reason Foundation ranked Delaware 40th out of 50 states in a highway performance report, primarily because of congestion and traffic fatalities. Still, the Transportation Trust Fund remains underfunded.

BUD FREEL’S WILMINGTON MORATORIUM

On June 7th, Wilmington City Councilperson Charles “Bud” Freel introduced Ordinance 07-042, “An Ordinance to Enact a Moratorium on Certain Residential and Commercial Development Within the Geographic Boundaries of the Delaware Avenue Comprehensive Development Plan Area Until Such Time that the Said Plan Can Be Reviewed and Amended as Necessary.” Co-sponsored by Councilperson R. Campbell Hay, this Ordinance would stop nearly all development in an area that ranges approximately from I-95 on the East to Rising Sun Lane on the West; and from the Brandywine River on the North to 11th Street across to Lincoln, then 7th Street across to Greenhill Avenue on the South side.

Ord. 07-042 would place a moratorium on “the filing of all development applications relating to (i) any development of commercially zoned property located within the geographic boundaries of the Delaware Avenue Comprehensive Development Plan (“the Plan”), and (ii) any new development or expansion of residentially zoned property greater than three stories
located within the geographic boundaries of the Plan. For purposes of this moratorium development applications shall include (a) building permits for new construction, (b) demolition permits other than for emergency demolitions, (c) applications for any and all re-zoning actions, and (d) applications for major and minor subdivision review.”

At the June 19th Planing Commission meeting, the Planning Department analysis of the Ordinance noted that City Councilpersons have expressed concern about the intensity of development in the Planning Area, including development projects at Rockford Falls, Columbus Inn, Gibraltar, and Rockford Grove; renovations or expansions at the Delaware Art Museum, Tower Hill School, and Union Park Honda; new construction at Rockford Shops, Happy Harry’s, and CR Hooligans; and potential redevelopment of a City Fire Station, the Lynam site on Delaware Avenue, and the Acme site on Dupont Street.

The Planning Department analysis noted that the Delaware Avenue Comprehensive Development Plan was adopted in 1975 and has only undergone five minor revisions since then, primarily because the area has been stable. The Department has already begun an update; has just completed the land-use survey of the geographic area; and is preparing the Neighborhood Notebook, a detailed compilation of data for the three census tracks that make up the Delaware Avenue analysis area. The Department expects to hold an initial community meeting in July; draft the Plan document, including zoning recommendation, by mid-September; present the draft Plan to the community at the end of September; revise the Plan in October based on community input; and present the Plan to the Planning Commission in November or December, with a City Council public hearing to follow in January.

In its analysis of the impact of the Moratorium Ordinance, the Planning Department noted that, as written, it would, among other things, prohibit “the issuance of all phases of permits in the building permitting process, even for those renovations relating to fit-outs in connection with changes in tenancy, or the reuse of existing commercial spaces (when leased or rented, for example).” In addition, it would prohibit demolition permits, minor and major subdivisions. The moratorium “will delay current development proposals under consideration, if all relevant development applications (including subdivision, building permits, demotion permits) have not been submitted by the effective date of the moratorium.”

Even though it was not a public hearing, the Planning Commission opened the floor to comments because of the significant opposition that had been expressed to the Department of Planning and the Mayor’s office. Co-sponsor R. Campbell Hay and Councilperson Paul Ignudo, Jr. spoke in favor of the Ordinance, noting that residents in the Planning District were facing a number of development proposals which were having a significant impact on the traditional neighborhoods. The Committee of 100 Board member Lisa B. Goodman of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, Land Use Committee member Kimberly Hoffman of Riley Riper Hollin & Colagreco, and Executive Director Beverley Baxter each spoke, pointing out legal implications of, and negative economic development impacts from, the Ordinance.

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend against the moratorium. As the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Commissioner Bill Montgomery noted, the moratorium would send a negative message about investing in Wilmington, contrary to the atmosphere the City has spent years cultivating. As a result of this vote, passage of the Ordinance will take approval from 10 of Council’s 13 members.

Councilperson Bud Freel is working to get those ten votes. The Ordinance is on the agenda of a Joint Housing and Licenses & Inspections/Finance and Economic Development Committee Meeting scheduled for 4:30 July 2nd in preparation for the vote at City Council’s July 5th meeting.