New Castle County Council creates a new zoning category for publicly-owned parks and conserved land.
Council unanimously passed the open space zoning ordinance at last week’s meeting which creates a new zoning category, “P.”
This is the first step to rezone publicly-owned open space with a zoning designation for such a use.
Councilwoman Dee Durham was one of the co-sponsors, and she says this brings the county into alignment regionally.
"This is a very common zoning category that's been missing from this UDC, many of our surrounding counties, states and even the city of Wilmington, has a park zoning district,” said Durham. “So, it's really something that's been missing in New Castle County, and this seeks to correct that."
Durham notes this change has been recommended for three comprehensive plans including the most recent one, so it’s not a new topic.
The change also adds more consistency to the county zoning map which just usually retained the zoning assigned to a parcel prior to park designation which included industrial, business park and residential.
"So this, I think, makes it forward facing, much more transparent in terms of what this land intended uses are, it does consolidate," said Councilman David Carter who was also one of the co-sponsors.
The next step is to rezone individual park parcels with the new designation to clear up any confusion about whether a parcel can be developed or is protected.
