The Dover City Council unveiled a detailed comprehensive plan Monday for development in its downtown district.
City officials point to two glaring problems in Dover: high crime and high vacancy. Currently, the city’s rental population stands at 84 percent.
Knowing those issues are scaring off investors, officials have been working to make big changes to downtown Dover. Recently, they provided an update their downtown development plan, which includes a number of fee waivers, tax benefits and homeowner incentives to attract people to live, work and start their businesses in Dover.
Examples include business license fee waivers for new businesses and property taxes waivers for homeowners, provided they stay for at least four years.
Investors will also eligible for grants under the state’s Downtown Development Districts initiative and matching rebates from Kent County. Along with Wilmington and Seaford, Dover received a Downtown Development District designation from Gov. Jack Markell in January. State grants in that program offer investors up to 20 percent of the cost of their residential, mixed-use, commercial or industrial projects. Kent County says it will match those state grants up to $10,000.
Dover’s director of planning and community development, Ann Marie Townshend, says these measures are necessary to bring positive change to areas that need it the most, such as central Dover.
“So we really just want to focus on cleaning up the crime, cleaning up the blighted properties, bringing more homeowners in and just making it a more vibrant area,” said Townshend
Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen responded to the negative feedback on the downtown development initiative, coming from local residents who say it’s unfair that the city is only focusing on the downtown area.
“The downtown area--we refer to it as a healthy heart--if we do not have a healthy heart, then the rest of the city is not going to be a healthy and viable place to do business and raise our families,” said Christiansen.
Dover’s city officials are seeking public feedback on the plan. A pair of public workshops on Dover’s revamped downtown development district plan will take place at the Dover Public Library this Thursday at 10am and 6 pm.