March 2007

General Manager Department of Land Use Charles Baker

New Castle County Department of Land Use General Manager Charles L. Baker
with Executive Director Beverley V. Baxter and President Brian D. Bailey

The change in New Castle County just keeps coming and Charles Baker is now in the thick of it.  From the time that Chris Coons became County Executive and announced that “Times have changed,” they have, indeed.
           
Nowhere is that change more apparent than in the difference between the Gordon Administration’s Comprehensive Development Plan and the Coons Administration’s Comp Plan.  The 2007 New Castle County Comprehensive Development Plan Update takes the County in a new direction, opening up development possibilities that were previously not possible.  The new direction, which concentrates growth with higher densities and a mix of uses that will preserve open space, lower the cost of infrastructure, and provide more creative development options, is significant in its forward thinking.
           
The Planning Board approved the draft Comp Plan with 82 amendments February 27th.  Once Board Chair Vic Singer signs the document, we will all see whether or not the 82 amendments address concerns The Committee of 100 raised.  State requirements call for Council to vote on the Comp Plan in March, though there can be an extension.  In any case, as our testimony noted, “the devil will be in the details” of implementation.
           
Charles Baker is charged with that implementation, and the resulting Code changes will help to determine the future of New Castle County.
           
Charles will discuss the implications of the Comp Plan, its implementation, and more.

Beverley Baxter