Land Use Applications that come to P&Z Commission

Two Types of Land Use Applications

• Subdivision Approvals without Zoning Change or Conditional Use

If the subdivision proposal is within the zoning regulations of the parcel, P&Z Commission will hold a public hearing and makes the final decision of either approval or denial.

• Zoning Change or Conditional Use Applications

If the land use application needs a zoning change or a conditional use approval, there will be 2 public hearings - at the Planning & Zoning Commission and the County Council. In this case, P&Z makes a recommendation of approval or denial to the Council, and the Council decision is the final.

Public Hearing Process

Each hearing notice must be published in 2 newspapers at least 15 days prior to the hearing (in the Bay to Bay News formerly known as Delaware State News and another local newspaper), and the hearing notice must be displayed at the site of the proposed application. The hearing notice letters must be mailed to property owners within 200 ft of the proposed property.

Public Comments and Public Record

Usually up until the end of the public hearing, public record is open and the public comments are accepted while the public record is open.

Public can make comments to the P&Z Commissioners by emails or letters via P&Z Office before the hearing, but cannot engage in discussions with the Commissioners. It is a complicated issue, but in short, the Council is acting as a Quasi-judicial body in these cases and cannot discuss the application without the presence of both sides - Ex Parte Communication (https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_code_of_judicial_conduct/model_code_of_judicial_conduct_canon_2/rule2_9expartecommunications/)

During the public hearing, the public can speak and are allowed to use visual presentation, such as PowerPoint.

P&Z Commission can extend the public hearing if the hearing gets very lengthy; they can either close the public record or leave it open; or they can leave the public record open for specific issues; or they can inquire the state agencies (DelDOT or DNREC) and wait for their responses and give the public to comments solely on those agency responses.

Amendment to the County Ordinances

When the County proposes to change the existing County Ordinances, such as zoning laws or change to the zoning maps in the Sussex Comprehensive Plan, they are to have 2 public hearings - Planning & Zoning and County Council.

Each hearing notice must be published in 2 newspapers (in the Bay to Bay News formerly known as Delaware State News and News Journal) at least 15 days prior to the hearing.

Usually up until the end of the public hearing, public record is open and the public comments are accepted while the public record is open.

Public can make comments to the Council by calls, emails or letters before the hearing. Unlike the specific land use applications, the Council (or P&Z Commissioners) can engage in discussions with the public before the public hearing.

During the public hearing, the public can speak and are allowed to use visual presentation, such as PowerPoint.