City Begins Comprehensive Plan Updates

At a recent workshop, Milford City Council received details on the process for updating the Comprehensive Plan by 2028. City Planner Rob Pierce was assisted by William “BJ” DeCoursey, AICP Certified Planner with the University of Delaware Institute for Public Administration. The institute has been contracted by the city to assist with the plan which much be updated every 10 years.

“Tonight, we wanted to go over the Comprehensive Plan update process, what our schedule is with the Planning Commission, the public and City Council,” Pierce said. “Also, we’ve included status updates to a lot of the goals and objectives from the 2018 plan. Just for reference, I’ll highlight a couple of accomplishments we’ve made in the past 10 years.”

According to the schedule provided to council, the process began with a workshop with the Planning Commission on April 21 followed by the council workshop on April 22. Next, the city planned a public open house on May 21 at the Public Works building, 180 Vickers Drive, from 4 to 7 PM. The public open house would allow members of the community to provide feedback on the goals and objectives included in the plan.

“We will bring back the feedback to the Planning Commission in July in order to begin creating new 2028 goals and objectives,” Pierce said. “We anticipate working through the fall on the first few chapters of the plan and then we will check in with city council and the public. I think it is good to be sure the Planning Commission is doing what the public wants to see and what council wants.”

Once those meetings are held, the Planning Commission will begin working on the second half of the plan, undergoing the same process. It is anticipated the second half would be presented to council and the public around May 2027 with the final draft approved by council in July 2027. Once council approves the plan, it goes to PLUS review. After PLUS makes its recommendations, they will be presented to council and public hearings planned before Planning Commission as well as City Council in November 2027.

“I just wanted to provide some details on what we have accomplished over the life of the plan and some of the things we have not,” Pierce said. “We do have to report this to the state each year and we also provide it to council in June of each year. We’ve worked with DelDOT to establish a Southeast Milford Transportation Improvement District, outlining recommended improvements down and around the hospital area.”

Other accomplishments highlighted by Pierce include the establishment of an Historic District Committee which would build in voluntary design standards established by Downtown Milford Inc. The city has also updated building code, added floodplain requirements and assisted in traffic studies with Kent County MPO.

“One of these was a parking study which was identified as something the community wanted,” Pierce said. “We are wrapping up an Airport Road study. We completed a Rehoboth Boulevard corridor study, and we evaluated the intersection at 10^th Street and Walnut Street. We’ve continued to address deficiencies in the bicycle and pedestrian network, which is one of the goals outlined in the plan.”

Councilman Jason James thanked Pierce for his department’s hard work on the plan, not just as a councilperson but as a resident. He asked how the city was working with the state to address the housing crisis.

“We’ve begun meeting with the Delaware State Housing Authority and Smart Growth America, the consultants they have hired,” Pierce said. “I think we’re going to be limited on this. I think we’re going to have to pick four or five of them to focus on, but we are looking at some zoning and land use.”

James pointed out that although housing was important, in terms of economic development, other portions of the plan were also important including recreation.

“I am thankful for the councilwoman who will not let recreation go and we all know that recreation is important,” James said. “But housing, I know we have units planned but it does matter. We cannot throw it out. Property values, where things are, where things should be. I think the state is moving toward maybe entertaining a certain portion of all developments attributed to affordable housing, but one thing we have to consider is home rule. We’ve been ahead on a lot of things here and we don’t want to wait until we are dictated to.”

Pierce explained that what James was talking about was inclusionary zoning, a mandate that could be framed in a way that would address some of the issues with affordable housing in Milford. Councilman Dan Marabello asked how the city was including the school district in the comprehensive plan as they had a vested interest in the future of the city.

“It’s good to see that the two bodies are thinking alike as this came up at the Planning Commission,” Pierce said. “That is something where, as we get closer, in the government services section, I’d like to reach out to the school district and have them come do a presentation just to the Planning Commission.”

Marabello suggested the fire department be included in that discussion. Pierce reminded council that there were two volunteer fire companies that serve areas in the town and based on growth, a third could be involved. Currently Houston Volunteer Fire Company covers portions of Milford, but as the city expands south, Ellendale Volunteer Fire Company may also respond to alarms.

“I’d like to suggest avoiding a FOIA situation with a quorum that there is a time slot sign-up sheet if council members want to participate,” Councilwoman Nadia Zychal said. “That way there is no overwhelming overlap.”

Councilman Danny Perez asked what turnout was expected at the public workshop planned for May.

“We would love to have a large turnout and get feedback in that fashion,” Pierce said. “Sometimes, when we spread it out over a few hours, we get a steady group of people. But there have been workshops and outreach sessions that drew very few people or have very little participation while others are well attended with a lot of feedback.”

The full presentation on the Comprehensive Plan can be found on the city website