Committee looks into climate change, housing needs, supporting farmers

The Sustainability Systems and Resilient Communities Committee shared its recommendations Dec. 19 from four subcommittees on agriculture, environment, housing and transportation.

“We’re not done; there is still some fine-tuning to be done, and then we will submit a document to the transition team for their digestion and eventual acceptance,” said Todd Lawson, Sussex County administrator and committee co-chair along with former Delaware Department of Transportation Secretary Jennifer Cohan and former Dover City Manager Tony DePrima.

Former Delaware Agriculture Secretary Ed Kee said the agriculture subcommittee has developed 21 recommendations so far and more are expected. Policy objectives include preserving farmland, growing the farm economy with focus on family farms, enabling a farm-to-table economy, and supporting agricultural education and research.

“It was a learning experience for everyone,” Kee said. “One observation was the survival of Delaware agriculture is dependent on a profitable and sustainable poultry industry.”

Poultry, corn and soybean crops represent about 75% of the state’s cash farming, he said.

Kee said reducing or eliminating taxes on farm buildings such as chicken houses, shops and barns, is one action that could help keep farmers on their land. Continuing to fund Aglands Preservation is also needed to support local farmers, he said.

Geopolitically, the world is changing, Kee said, and commodity prices are very low. 

“Farm income in Delaware has been cut nearly in half this past year because of prices. There’s a squeeze,” he said.

Enhanced funding for the Delaware Agricultural Production Insurance Assistance Program would help farmers with crop insurance. “That could be revenue or from a disaster,” he said.

Saltwater intrusion and impaired drainage ditches also need to be looked into, he said.

Creating an office of food security was another recommendation suggested.

Former Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Dave Small said he expects his group will have 35-40 action items.

“Climate resilience with an emphasis on local government – that theme bore itself out as we talked more about local land-use decisions and resiliency. There is a very clear relationship there that is undeniable and must be bolstered as we move into the future, and certainly with an emphasis on our beach areas on the Delaware River and Bay, and our ocean coastline,” he said.

Climate risk assessments and disclosure for home construction and sales of existing homes is something the insurance industry is looking into and beginning to move on, he said.

“Is this an opportunity to try and protect homeowners, potentially, and maybe have the insurance industry take a look at climate change and some of those impacts?” Small said.

Other recommendations included reducing greenhouse gases, developing green energy alternatives as an economic tool, preserving open space, and improving DNREC agency efficiency and effectiveness.

Looking into establishing cooling centers in areas with vulnerable populations – elderly, underserved and urban – was also recommended. 

The housing subcommittee said new homes are needed across all income levels. According to a needs assessment on housing in the state, it estimated 4,380 new units a year are needed for households with incomes at 100% of area median income or less – more than 43,000 units over the next decade for households with lower and moderate incomes.

The committee said the state must play a much larger role in solving the affordable housing crisis by increasing housing stock for all. That includes increasing density and locating affordable housing near transportation hubs.

Allowing by-right development that wouldn’t require public hearings would ideally allow construction to proceed as long as the zoning allows it, the committee said, although implementing it could be tricky.

Gov.-elect Matt Meyer joined the group and thanked them for their work.

“What really matters are the policies and the programs that we choose to pursue to sustain and improve lives and livelihoods and communities across our state,” he said. “Engaging in constructive dialogue to make sure that the ideas that we put together from diverse parts of our state help provide us a platform so we can be off and running when I’m sworn in on Jan. 21.”