At a recent meeting, Milford Planning Commission heard details on a bill signed by Governor John Carney late last year that requires municipalities to incorporate reduce vulnerability due to climate change in their comprehensive plan. The legislation states that future land use plans must “reflect strategies which consider community resiliency and reduce the vulnerability of property, agriculture, infrastructure and cultural and natural resources to the impacts of climate change.”
“This act takes effect November 15, 2026, and your comprehensive plan is due shortly after this takes effect, so you are probably working on updating the comprehensive plan now,” Philip Barnes, an engineer with the Institute for Public Administration at the University of Delaware, said. “So, there is a big question about what that actually means and what it looks like and what is expected from the Office of State Planning.”
According to Barnes, climate change must be included as part of the comprehensive plan, but he was also gathering feedback from commissioners because the state has not yet established the guidelines for what climate change and resiliency in a comprehensive plan looks like.
“I appreciate the opportunity to address this because I think we are very well prepared as a city because a lot of this is already included,” Rob Pierce, City Planner, said. “But this gives us further opportunity to define it moving forward.”
Commissioner Jim Purcell asked that the state review what municipalities already had in place before adding more requirements.
“If you look at some of the plans already in place, at least for our city, I can tell you that, we have trails, we address flooding issues,” Purcell said. “I think in terms of climate resilience, what can be addressed as well, like streetlamps that are solar, things of that nature. There are some developers and folks that are very keen on this, so we will be addressing some of this moving forward, but the common theme is to reach out to developers and the city, review the plans that are already out there and enhance rather than restrict.”
Barnes explained that Milford was somewhat of a case study as they had worked to incorporate climate change in the comprehensive plan, even including historic and cultural preservation.
“Personally, if you ask my opinion, I think integrating climate change into every single chapter would be the way to go, but I think the Office of State Planning is probably going to ask communities to develop a standalone chapter on climate change and resiliency,” Barnes said. “If you look at what the counties are going to be subjected to, it is going to be much more intensive.”
The county regulations require avoiding development in vulnerable inland coastal flood areas and other more stringent environmental protections. For the city of Milford, climate change issues would need to address flooding and heat as those are the two areas where climate change could lead to issues in the area. Barnes explained that meant future land use designations should address rising heat levels and rising sea levels.
The Planning Commission is currently working on the comprehensive plan and will address the land use needs to meet climate change as they move forward.
