The Meyer administration wants denser communities, better public transportation, and protection of flood-prone areas from sea-level rise, but it isn’t telling developers where they can and cannot build houses in Delaware.
That’s the message from Executive Order 16, issued by the office of Gov. Matt Meyer on Jan. 30, which calls for more coordination between state and local governments to better use land to achieve so-called smart growth, balancing economic gains with environmental protection.
The administration has no plans to restrict development in Delaware’s vulnerable coastal strip but wants to push back against the low-density sprawl brought by suburban tracts, and is hoping to get the buy-in of municipalities toward that goal.
“Growth works best when it’s smart, protecting our environment while enabling economic growth and job creation,” Meyer said in a statement. “We urgently must protect open spaces, farmland, and our farm families, add to the vibrancy of our downtowns, and create policies for workforce housing to be plentiful.”
Mila Myles, Gov. Meyer’s communications director, rejected a suggestion that the state can’t do both.
“It’s a false choice,” she told Delaware Public Media in an interview. “You can absolutely streamline the permitting process but still make sure that projects are being built where they should be built. The best policies do both, and in order to do both, you talk to everyone.”
In coming weeks, the administration is expected to introduce rules that will streamline the permitting process for developers.
Myles said the order does not restrict development but the state will block a project that would be built, for example, near a wildlife preserve.
“This current EO does not assert any restriction in flood-prone areas but that doesn’t mean that you can just build wherever,” she said. ”Municipalities have a lot of control over land use, but at the same time, we also need to make sure we are putting forth policy that is going to help Delawareans and not just build to build.”
Even though the order avoids restricting development, the Meyer administration is clear on what does and does not constitute smart growth, and it does not include McMansions at the shore, Myles said.
“It’s not building million-dollar beach homes that are only going to lead to coastal erosion. It’s about building dense apartment units or neighborhoods that families can build on, or is already attached to public transportation,” she said.
Sean Matthews, executive director of the Delaware Contractors Association, did not respond to a request for comment on the order.
Any new attempt by the state to restrict coastal development may prompt pushback from developers, as happened last year in New Jersey where former Gov. Phil Murphy rolled back a plan that would have ordered builders of new properties in flood-prone areas to elevate the structures by more than was eventually required.
In Delaware, the order highlighted the importance of cooperation between state and local governments in seeking sustainable land-use practices and recognized that local governments play an important role in determining land-use policies that support economic growth while providing a “high quality of life” for their residents.
The document establishes “Corridor Planning Areas” such as those along Routes 9 and 113 in Sussex County to find solutions for congestion, safety and land-use pressures.
It also expands the existing Downtown Development District program – a state initiative to stimulate economically challenged town centers -- by allowing the addition of three towns for a maximum of 15. The expanded program aims to “spur job growth, improve commercial vitality, and build stable communities,” the administration said.
The order also certified the 2025 State Strategies report which outlines the roles of state and local governments in land-use policy. Although the state has delegated land-use decisions to counties municipalities, the state also has a vital role to play, the report says.
“State government has a continuing involvement in the overall land-use patterns because of its responsibility to the state taxpayers and its mission to provide infrastructure and services,” it says.
In Sussex County, where land is under pressure from developers for both tourists and new residents, Meyer ordered a seven-month coordinated planning effort between state and county governments to define a land-use plan for the so-called Corridor Planning Areas. The plan also aims to kickstart an update in the county’s comprehensive plan.
The county welcomed the order, and said it does not see the document as an attempt by the state to attempt to manage growth in the area.
“The County understands this initiative is to improve the Office of State Planning Coordination’s efforts to implement local land use decisions through the State Strategies policy,” it said in a statement.
The goal of the study is to identify and quantify the amount of growth that’s planned for the corridor areas during the plan period, and then to decide on what level of infrastructure and service improvements are needed to support future growth.
“A successful outcome will be a plan that assists both the county and the state in the drafting of the Comprehensive Plan update, and a commitment from the State related to the immediate and necessary infrastructure improvements in the corridor areas, especially US Route 9,” the county said.
The county’s Comprehensive Plan was last updated in December 2018 and was certified by the Governor in 2019. The update process will begin in 2026 and is expected to be completed by 2028.
In June 2024, Delaware’s Department of Transportation issued its Coastal Corridors Study which anticipated congestion on State Route 16 and U.S. 9 east of Route 113 because of expected population growth. It recommended that state, county and local planners consider widening roads in some places, and improving conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians in town centers.
The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce declined a request for comment on the order, saying its environment committee is studying the document.
For the Meyer administration, the order is an attempt to achieve the smart growth that has eluded some areas of Delaware, violating state and local planning policies in those places, Myles said.
“It might be tempting to build a brand new subdivision in a rural area but that’s not going to increase density,” she said. “That’s not going to get bus routes there. We’ve got to set ourselves up for a future that will be sustainable in the 21st century, not still operating with a 20th century mindset.”
