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Delaware Sierra Club Land Use Committee
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When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest
of the world.
John Muir
Very few of us realize the fact that city land development in all but the exceptional case, is
the work of the Community…[t]he landowner, great or small, will find his interest and the
general interest one and the same.
Frank Backus Williams. "Public Control." City Planning. Ed. John Nolen,
Appleton and Company, 1929. 84-85
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The Land Use Committee is working to develop a program that will advance the policies of the
Club and the Chapter, provide a variety of projects to match various members' interests, and
improve the quality of life in Delaware.
The Chapter has a long history in land use issues and existing policies and positions may be
found on this web site, along with relevant policies of the Sierra Club.
The primary focus of the Committee's work initially will be a review of Delaware's planning
legislation at the State and local (county and municipal) levels. The original State Planning Act
was passed by the General Assembly in 1961 (Laws of Delaware Chapter 184, pages 542 - 553).
New Castle County and the municipalities had planning and zoning authority prior to that; Kent and
Sussex Counties got enabling legislation in 1968. The State Planning Act was repealed but various
pieces of legislation have restored parts of the concept. However, there has not been a comprehensive
review since the Council of State Governments drafted the 1961 proposal.
Another issue that could be developed if there is adequate member interest is sea level rise and
shoreline erosion. There is much talk about global warming and resultant sea level rise.
Without engaging in that debate one way or the other, the fact is that the sea rises and the
shoreline moves landward and land use policy and regulatory programs need to operate in conjunction
with that knowledge, not merely keep paying people to rebuild structures demolished by natural forces.
There is also the matter of the required periodic updating of local comprehensive plans and their
implementation which needs the oversight of a conservation-oriented organization.
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