What is Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS) Review/Comments?

The Preliminary Land Use Service (PLUS) is a process provided by the Office of State Planning Coordination (OSPC) to land use applicants. This review process allows the applicants to receive comments from various state agencies before the application is submitted to the County Planning & Zoning (P&Z) and potentially to the County Council. The applicants are encouraged to consult P&Z prior to submitting the PLUS application.

Based on the PLUS comments, the applicant has a chance to modify their application or even withdraw it.

PLUS review meetings occur once a month and the monthly agenda is posted about 6th or 7th day of each month at https://stateplanning.delaware.gov/plus/meetings.shtml  Each PLUS application is assigned an ID that starts with the year and the month when it is reviewed, followed by a sequence number.

(Due to the pandemic, these very informative meetings are virtual, and the public is invited to attend the meetings.)

Starting September 2022, the public is allowed to speak for 3 minutes - for each person - after the state agencies have shared their comments with the applicants.

After the review meeting, OSPC creates a formal comment for each application within a set time period and posted online and available to the public via PLUS Operations Dashboard. 

The applicant's response is usually included in the application to the County's P&Z.

How does PLUS help the Public?

PLUS meeting agenda and the Dashboard help the public to anticipate what will be coming to the area, even though some applications may be changed or withdrawn after they receive the PLUS Review. 

PLUS Review is not enforceable, but the County has to make the decisions within the boundary of the County's zoning laws.

Not All Applications Require PLUS Review

There are certain categories of rather large land use applications that are required to have PLUS review, but not all. 

§ 9203. Local land use planning actions subject to review process.

(a) All projects meeting any 1 of the following criteria shall undergo a pre-application meeting and review process as set forth in this chapter:

(1) Major residential subdivisions with internal road networks and more than 50 units, excluding previously recorded residential subdivisions of any size which have not been sunsetted.

(2) Any nonresidential subdivision involving structures or buildings with a total floor area exceeding 50,000 square feet, excluding any previously approved and recorded non-residential subdivision regardless of floor area size, or any site plan review involving structures or buildings with a total floor area exceeding 50,000 square feet, excluding any previously approved and recorded non-residential site plan review regardless of floor area size.

(3) Rezonings, conditional uses, site plan reviews and/or subdivisions, within environmentally sensitive areas, as identified within any local jurisdiction’s comprehensive plan as certified under § 9103 of this title.

(4) Annexations inconsistent with the local jurisdiction’s comprehensive plan as certified under § 9103 of this title.

(5) Applications for rezoning if not in compliance with the local jurisdiction’s comprehensive plan as certified under § 9103 of this title.

(6) Any other project which is required to be referred to the State for pre-application review by local jurisdiction regulations.

(7) Any local land use regulation, ordinance or requirement referred to the Office of State Planning Coordination by a local jurisdiction for the purpose of providing the jurisdiction with advisory comments. The land use regulations, ordinances or requirements that are to be referred to the Office of State Planning Coordination may be specified in a jurisdiction’s Memorandum of Understanding.

(8) County and municipal comprehensive plans as required by Titles 9 and 22.

(b) Any applicant may voluntarily request to participate in the pre-application review process and shall make such requests in writing to the Office of State Planning Coordination.