Sussex County Council Votes to Move Forward with Forest Preservation Ordinance

September 1, 2026/Joe Ciccanti

After a le wasngthy series of discussions, the Sussex County Council came to a vote on the Forest Preservation Ordinance. Members unanimously voted yes to move forward with Ordinance No. 26-05. Council Vice President John Rieley calls this a milestone:

He says that whether it needs to be adjusted and amended as they move forward, they will continue to look at it and see how it performs. He adds they can improve the ordinance if need be.

“AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 99, ARTICLE I, III AND V §99-5
“DEFINITIONS”, §99-21A “PERIMETER BUFFERS” AND §99-26 “INFORMATION TO
BE SHOWN” AND CHAPTER 115, ARTICLES I, XXV AND XXVIII 115-4
“DEFINITIONS AND WORD USAGE” AND §115-221 “FINAL SITE PLAN
REQUIREMENTS” AND BY ADDING NEW §§115-194.8 “FOREST PRESERVATION’
AND 115-194.9 “TREE PLANTING REQUIREMENTS”  

Here is the vote:

In the motion to amend, the Council also voted to make this ordinance effective in three months.

Long version with discussion on and reading of the amendments…

 

In other Council business…

In the list of items on the Sussex County Council agenda today, County Administrator Todd Lawson reviewed and made an appointment to the Steering Committee required by House Joint Resolution 11, which was passed by the General Assembly during its last session. The legislation establishes a Working Group to explore the feasibility of creating a Housing Opportunity and Poverty Elimination (HOPE) Court Program. Lawson explained more about the working group… 

The Council voted to appoint Brandy Nauman, who is the Director of Sussex County Community Development and Housing, to serve in this working group representing Sussex County.  The appointment is effective immediately.

 

Regarding the bond issuance for the Bethany Forest Septic Elimination Project, Council members voted to approve (5-0). 

 

Finance Director Gina Jennings gave an assessment update and and update on the Fire/Ambulance programs. The Sussex County Council voted to approve entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with any municipality that wants to use Sussex County’s tax assessment records for their billing purposes…

The vote was unanimous. Also regarding assessments, she explained that a request for proposals has been advertised since July for the next round. The reassessment will use the July 1, 2028, evaluation date and will be effective for the 2030 tax billing. She added that the assessment process is lengthy, noting that the last reassessment took four years. Those bids are due September 16th.

Jennings said she is serving on two state working groups –one to establish standards for the new reassessment and the other-to examine long term property tax relief and some strategies and programs that can be implemented during the next reassment or even in the next tax year. 

Jennings also provided an update on the Fire/Ambulance programs. The ambulance program was approved by the Council last year as part of the FY 2027 budget. It includes $7.6 million for local fire companies and ambulance squads to help with operational costs, including paid EMT salaries, as well as an additional $1.6 million for a centralized ambulance billing and unit purchase cost-share plan to support basic life support, or BLS, services. Regarding the creation of these programs, Jennings said at the outset…

They have 11 different fire companies represented out of the 7 direct committee members coming from the fire service. 

You can listen to the full presentation and update here:

 

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