Groups Speak About Forest Protection Ordinance in Sussex Co.

(GEORGETOWN, Del) – Members of the Sussex County community are encouraging the passage of an ordinance to protect Lower Delaware forests.

Ordinance 26-05 would require that developers preserve up to 30 percent of forests in development areas, and half of forest lands in rural areas of Sussex County. The Sussex Preservation Coalition is one of the groups who is speaking up in favor of passing the ordinance to protect Delaware’s forests. Groups have been speaking up in favor of the ordinance to make sure development is being handled responsibly.

“We are the only county in Delaware not to have one. What it does is to preserve forests so that they are not torn down needlessly when developments are being constructed,” says Coalition President, Joe Pika.

The goal of the ordinance is to protect acreage totals across Lower Delaware as they’ve been slowly declining over the years. And groups like the preservation coalition say they don’t want to see Delaware forests be leveled for development.

Joe tells WMDT, “All too many builders are doing that. They are simply destroying all forests, even those that they do not need to when they’re in the process of developing, properties. So this does not control growth. It controls builders.”