MEMORANDUM

 

 

To:                   CEC/DE Executive Committee

From:              Stephen Johns

Date:                September 21, 2009

Re:                   NCC Partnering Meeting Minutes –September 14, 2009

 

 

 

At 2:00 PM on Monday, September 14, 2009, the NCC Partnering Committee met with New Castle County’s Land Use Department. The following topics were discussed:

 

1.              Enhanced Review (Two Step) Process Ordinance – This ordinance has been introduced and was reviewed by the Planning Board on September 2nd. It is expected to be approved by Council in October and take effect January 1^st, 2010. We requested consideration of a method for submitting optional intermediate plans for formal review, if desired by the engineer.

 

2.              “Smart Code” Ordinance - This ordinance was introduced during the week of July 6^th. It is expected to be passed by Council in September or October.

 

3.              “BRAC” Amendments – The County expects to introduce an ordinance to enhance opportunities for mixed use development soon after the “Smart Code” ordinance is approved. This will probably become effective in January.

 

4.              Small Business Incentives – The County expects to introduce an ordinance to enhance opportunities for mixed use development soon after the “Smart Code” ordinance is approved. This will probably become effective in January.

 

5.              Omnibus Ordinances – The omnibus ordinances have been introduced and were reviewed by the Planning Board on September 2nd. They are expected to be approved by Council in October.

 

6.              Sign Code Ordinance – Ted Williams is leading a committee that is working on a complete review and revision of the sign code. It is currently being drafted by Land Use staff and a first draft is expected to be available by the end of September.

 

7.              Construction Shutdowns –This policy was reviewed with HBA and NCC is waiting for a response from HBA. NCC is currently working on an ordinance concerning stockpiling.

 

8.              Sediment & Stormwater Checklist – We reviewed the latest version of the checklist and all agreed it was acceptable. The checklist will be published and this item removed from the agenda.

 

9.              Electronic CCR Reviews – The County hopes to have a workshop on the process for the CCR’s and engineers soon.

 

10.           Finalization of the UDC definitions for Non-delineated floodplain, Drainage-way, Swale, and Riparian Buffer Area (as it relates to a watercourse) – We had a long discussion on the proposed definitions, focusing on the new definitions for drainageways and non-delineated floodplains. The drainageway definition eliminates the need for the watercourse which increases the frequency of occurrences, and eliminates the soil type requirement. The floodplain definition eliminates the need for the watercourse to be shown on SCS or USGS mapping. This increases the occurrence of non-delineated floodplains. We requested that a minimum drainage area be required to limit the occurrences of floodplains.

 

11.           Re-inspection Policy – This policy has been implemented.

 

12.           Water Management Agreement – We reviewed the proposed revisions briefly. We provided a short list of comments from ACEC DE’s Environmental Committee (Bruce Jones – chair). It was agreed NCC could contact Bruce Jones directly to review their concerns.

 

13.           Submission Requirements – NCC provided a list of submission requirements by code reference (see attached)

 

14.           Next Meeting – The next scheduled meeting with Land Use will be held on November 2, 2009 at 2:00 PM, in the Land Use office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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