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Volume 5 - Special Edition - Sussex County Buffer Ordinance - January 7, 2022
 
BBLA Newsletter
 
 
 
 
Sussex County Buffer Ordinance
What You Need to Know &
How to Take a Stand
 
 
 
As part of BBLA's advocacy efforts and emphasis on environmental concerns, BBLA's Board of Directors has been following the "buffers" issue in Sussex County for several years. As a promise to the membership we are using this vehicle to keep you informed. Please do the following:
 
  • Read the time-sensitive information below
  • Consider participating in the Center for Inland Bays Public Information Meeting - 1/10/22 (see link below)
  • Mark your calendar for the Sussex County Council Meeting - 1/11/2022
 
 
Informed Voices/Voters Make a Difference
 
Sussex County has been working to revise and update its ordinance/regulations regarding vegetated buffers for many years. The proposed final ordinance was released by the Council on December 21, 2021, and is titled “ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 99, SECTIONS 99-5, 99-6, 99-7, 99-23, 99-24, AND 99-30, AND CHAPTER 115 SECTIONS 115-4, 115-25, 115-193, 115-220, AND 115-221 REGARDING CERTAIN DRAINAGE FEATURES, WETLAND AND WATER RESOURCES AND THE BUFFERS THERETO”. The 34-page ordinance appears on the Sussex County Council agenda for its January 11, 2022, meeting scheduled to start at 9:00 am at the county administrative office, 2 The Circle, Georgetown, DE. According to the agenda, the ordinance will be discussed around 10:30 a.m., although it could come up earlier or later depending on how preceding agenda items go.  Both the ordinance and the agenda are provided here.
 
Because the ordinance was released so recently, and during a period when snowstorms, COVID, and the holidays have resulted in interested parties having no or very little time to review and provide comments on the proposed ordinance, a number of organizations and interested parties are very concerned that the Sussex County Council will not receive critically-important comments and concerns by the January 11 meeting, or by people speaking at the meeting. BBLA members are encouraged to read the ordinance for information, and if interested, participate/speak in the January 11 Sussex County Council meeting on January 11, in person or via remote link. See the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) website for more information and to learn about a CIB public education virtual meeting to be held on Monday, January 10, from 6:00 p.m. to TBD.  Executive Director, Chris Bason, will describe how the ordinance protects wetlands and waters, and how it also takes large steps backward in protection, and what can be done about this”. A summary of this information is provided in a recent letter to the editors of Coastal Point and the Cape Gazette submitted by CIB.
 


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