Like many of you, my heart sank when I read that the Sussex County Planning & Zoning Commission approved preliminary plans for the massive Northstar development project. Projects like this are why I’m running for the District 3 seat on Sussex County Council. 

My District 3 opponent – a Realtor and developer whose campaign is financed by Realtors and developers – and his P&Z commission appointees will bring neither change nor sanity to zoning issues or a revised comprehensive plan.

Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5 is our last chance for change. Another four years of projects like Northstar will leave our beloved county unrecognizable – even more so than it has been under my opponent’s four-year term. If he were going to be your advocate, he would have done so years ago – and he has not.

It is time for a new voice, and that is why I am asking for your vote for county council District 3. 

County council has the power to change the way development is done in this county, and I will work to do just that. Our roads and highways need a chance to catch up to our recent growth. We must do more to help our schools, to protect our environment and to preserve our farmlands. 

Northstar, with its 758 homes plus apartments and stores, will add 17,000 car trips each day on Route 9. And waiting in the wings for approval is the even more massive Cool Spring Crossing project, also on Route 9.

Of late, my opponent wrapped himself in an environmental cape. His builder friends formed a political action committee – Preserve Sussex PAC – to help make sure he stays in office. I trust voters to know when there is a fox guarding the henhouse. 

Unlike my opponent, I will support the voluntary school assessment that would address the impact of new developments on school capacity. It is a per-unit fee assessed upon developers to help schools address crowded classrooms driven by growth. 

Voting no on development projects is not enough. We must change the laws that favor these mega-developments over the adverse impacts on traffic, classrooms, woodlands and wetlands, and general quality of life. 

And to change these laws, I will need your help. If you elect me, I hope you will stay active and work with me to build the coalitions needed to make real and lasting change. 

Finally, I just want to say what an incredible experience this has been for me personally. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who volunteered, put up a yard sign, donated money, wrote letters, hosted a meet and greet or pleasantly answered their door when I knocked.  

I’ve met so many good people of all political beliefs who share these concerns. We have so much more in common than we may realize. Quality of life is not a partisan issue.

The decision is now yours to make. Will we have more of the same, or will we have change?