Milton approves new comprehensive plan after eight years

MILTON, Del. – After eight years without an update, the town of Milton has finally approved a comprehensive plan for growth and development. It’s a plan local business owners can get behind.

“I would like to see it maintained kind of like it is and quaint,” explains Mercantile owner, Lisa Falzarano.

The good news for Falzarano and many others living and working in Milton is that the master plan won’t change that. In fact, officials say they hope to keep with tradition while also planning for the future.

“We came here because the town was small not too big, but also quaint. So if we can maintain the historic sense and preserve what we have here and also maybe have it grow a little bit would be what I would be interested in,” adds Falzarano.

The towns new 111-page master plan addresses their major population boom and especially preserving and maintaining the Broad Kill River.

Town Manager Kristy Rogers says, “We also had community design, affordable housing, and protecting our historic district and again making sure we have the community facilities to carry our citizens and our town into the future.”

Key elements of the town that local shop owners and residents we spoke to think are important to plan for.

“A lot of the population is retirees so we’re not talking about school children in a population explosion that way, but with older folks there are services that are needed so I think we need more businesses that cater to that,” says Beth Miltner, a local resident.

And now that this plan is in place, we’re told the town is able to have guidelines to ensure Milton moves forward in the right direction, while also not losing sight of their history.

An important part of the master plan is having reviews every five years to see if any changes need to be made.

Over the couple years, the town has held several public hearings as they sifted through each section of the comprehensive plan, even adding 13 more categories than the previous plan had.