NEWS AND UPDATES
Archived, March 2006
State Planning Office Offers PLUS Project Location Information Using Google Maps
The Office of State Planning Coordination has added site location web-maps to the Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS) section of the state web site. The web-maps, created using the Google Maps API, show the latest PLUS locations and all PLUS locations statewide and for New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties. The Office also recently published several of its GIS datasets in the KMZ format, which can be viewed using the free Google Earth browser.
(3/30/06)
The Office of State Planning Coordination Wants You!
...If you are qualified, that is. The Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination has an immediate opening for a Principal Planner to work with county and local governments on land use plans, policies and coordination. The Job Posting (10-06-17 [PDF]) will be open through April 10, 2006.
The position requires education or experience in land use planning, experience in leading cross-functional teams, and the ability to communicate effectively. The ideal candidate will have at least a Bachelors degree in Land Use Planning, Urban and Regional Planning, Public Administration or a related field; experience using GIS tools; and experience in the preparation of municipal documents such as comprehensive plans or regulations.
This is a pay grade 19 position ($53,926 - $67,407). The work site is in Dover.
(3/24/06)
State Planning Office Offers GIS Data in Google Earth Format
The Office of State Planning Coordination now offers several of the GIS datasets that it publishes in the KMZ format, which can be viewed using the free Google Earth browser. These include the Delaware Municipal Boundaries (delaware_municipalities.kmz), The basic strategy areas map (state_strategies.kmz) of the Strategies for State Policies and Spending, and the locations and basic details about land use change proposals reviewed under the Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS) process (plus_projects.kmz).
(3/15/06)
State Planners Take Part in Training Programs for Local Leaders
Staff from the Office of State Planning Coordination will be part of several land use and planning training sessions this spring. Helping train municipal and county leaders, the people who make land use decisions in Delaware, is part of the Office's mission to improve of the coordination and effectiveness of land use decisions in Delaware.
On March 22, State Planning Coordinator Connie Holland will be part of a panel on "Preparing for Growth in Western Sussex County" at an Open Community Forum presented by the Seaford Chapter of the American Association of University Women. The forum, at 7:30 p.m. in the Central Elementary School Auditorium in Seaford, will address a variety of growth-related issues, including infrastructure issues, affordable housing, and the impact of growth on the environment, transportation, and agriculture.
On May 18, Ms. Holland will be part of a faculty that leads a one-day seminar, Zoning and Land Use in Delaware, presented by Lorman Education Services. The full-day seminar will start at 9:00 a.m., at the The Spencer Hotel, in Wilmington.On May 23, Principal Planner Herb Inden will speak on the development and use of Comprehensive Land Use Plans as part of a seminar presented by the National Business Institute, Land Use Law: Current Issues in Subdivision, Annexation and Zoning. This full-day seminar will start at 9:00 a.m. at the Holiday Inn, in Newark.
(3/15/06)
Register Now for The 2006 Delaware GIS Conference
Registration is now open for the 2006 Delaware GIS Conference, Patterns of Change, on June 1, 2006 at Clayton Hall on the University of Delaware Campus in Newark. A standard registration for the Conference is $85 through May 5 and $100 after May 5. Student registration is $55.
Registration is available on-line and includes, at no extra charge, the opportunity to register for pre-conference workshops on May 31, the special First Annual Delaware GIS Conference Social on the evening of May 31, and a special post-conference GPS seminar and field exercise on June 2. Space is limited for the Pre- and post-conference events; register soon so you won't be left behind.
The annual GIS Conference will offer a day of presentations and discussions on GIS in Delaware, with a focus on how GIS is used to track the changes to Delaware's landscape and people over time. The keynote speaker will be Allan Carroll, Chief Cartographer for the National Geographic. There will be awards given for GIS in Education and for service to the Delaware GIS Community.
You can be a star at this conference. There is still time to submit an abstract to make a presentation at the conference or to submit a poster.
(3/13/06)
Agenda Posted for March PLUS Meeting
An agenda (PDF) has been posted for the March 22 meeting of the Delaware Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS). The meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. in Conference Room 133 of the Haslet Armory, at 122 William Penn Street, in Dover. MOnthly PLUS meetings allow state agency planners to review and comment on land use projects prior to their consideration by local governments, which have final approval authority. Comments from PLUS meetings provide guidance both to developers and to local government leaders regarding growth and development in Delaware.
(3/7/06)
Delaware NEMO Program Offers a Conservation Design Roundtable
Delaware's Non-Point Education for Municipal Officials program, known as NEMO, offers a free Conservation Design Roundtable on Tuesday, March 28, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The Roundtable program, Writing Effective Ordinances That Protect Water Quality and Encourage Better Development, is intended for local government leaders, planning commissioners and planning staff in Sussex and Kent counties. It will include discussions on accommodating population growth while maintaining and improving water resources and on how local governments can make their local codes more effective and get the development they want. The event is sponsored by the DNREC Sediment and Stormwater Program, the Office of State Planning Coordination, Gaadt Perspectives LLC, and the Delaware NEMO Program.
The roundtable will be held at the Virden Center on the campus of the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies, at the end of Pilottown Road, in Lewes. Space is limited and preregistration is required. The registration deadline is March 22. For more information or to register, contact Joe Farrell, Delaware NEMO Coordinator, at 645-4250 or by email.
Delaware NEMO is a statewide network of educators, resource managers, and planners working together to provide communities with educational programs and materials to help them plan where and how to develop while protecting their natural resources. Delaware NEMO is a charter member of the National NEMO Network.
(3/6/06)
Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission Turns Down Isaacs Glen Proposal
The Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission has decided that the Isaacs Glen subdivision doesn't comply with the County's Land Use Plan and would not fit well in what is a predominantly agricultural area. According to a story in on the decision in the March 2 edition of the News Journal (Isaacs Glen cluster plan turned down), the Commission voted 4 to 1 to reject the plan, which would have seen 1,630 housing units added to the rural area between Milton and Milford. The proposal was reviewed under the PLUS process in November of 2005. State agency planners did not support the proposal (PDF).
(3/2/06)
