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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
AGENDA
NOVEMBER 14, 2018 - 4:30 P.M.
CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
15 LOOCKERMAN PLAZA
DOVER, DELAWARE
PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED ON ANY ITEM AND WILL BE PERMITTED AT APPROPRIATE
TIMES. WHEN POSSIBLE, PLEASE NOTIFY THE CITY CLERK (736-7008 OR E-MAIL AT
CITYCLERK@DOVER.DE.US) SHOULD YOU WISH TO BE RECOGNIZED.
AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS
1. DRAFT 2019 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, CHAPTER 10 - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN
2. PROPOSED RESOLUTION NO. 2018-12 PROPOSING TO CHANGE THE NAME OF GARRISON OAK
TECHNICAL PARK TO GARRISON OAK BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
3. ADJOURNMENT BY 5:30 P.M.
/DD
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THE AGENDA ITEMS AS LISTED MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED IN SEQUENCE. PURSUANT TO 29 DEL. C. §10004(E )(2), THIS
AGENDA IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE TO INCLUDE THE ADDITION OR THE DELETION OF ITEMS, INCLUDING EXECUTIVE
SESSIONS, WHICH ARISE AT THE TIME OF THE MEETING.
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CHAPTER 10: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN
GOALS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTIONS – PRELIMINARY REVIEW DRAFT
OCTOBER 5, 2018
Part III– Plan Goals: Economic Development
Goal 1: Attract and Retain High-Paying Quality Jobs by Targeting Business Sectors that are
best suited for Dover and Kent County and focusing on those sectors that are under-
represented in our region
Recommendation 1: Adopt Economic Development Strategies
• Define an Economic Development Vision and Strategies for the City including a long-term
economic portfolio, land/facility requirements and workforce development
• Work closely with economic development agencies including Kent County, Kent Economic
Partnership, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, and the State Division of Small Business to
identify and pursue opportunities and locations for economic growth
• Create a diversity of businesses focused on Dover’s strengths
• Maintain and foster workforce development
• Build private-public partnerships (P3) to encourage coordination and foster investments among
private, state, county and City stakeholders, and to fund infrastructure development and
improvements
• Build on the resources available through the City’s institutions of higher education for analytics,
training and research
• Recognize the value of Dover’s tourism industry, including being the State Capital, our proximity
to regional attractions, and local history
• Recognize and promote the local and regional economic value of Dover’s commercial corridors
Recommendation 2: Develop Effective Protocols for Business Attraction and Retention
Establish an organizational protocol for business recruitment and retention activities to include:
• Clarify the point of contact and the processes for City interaction with prospects, including
designating a “point-of-contract for the City
• Provide timely and effective information and promotional materials to respond to inquiries
• Develop a protocol and marketing program for outreach
• Create ongoing relationships with existing companies, brokers and site selectors
• Develop capacity to assist in small business development
• Coordinate external marketing and prospect management with other stakeholders
• Maintain an active leadership position in the Kent Economic Partnership, the Downtown Dover
Partnership, the Kent County Tourism Office, the Greater Kent Committee, the Central Delaware
Chamber of Commerce, the State Office of Small Business, and other organizations focused on job
growth in Kent County.
• Streamline regulatory processes, improve incentives and proactively identify economic
development opportunities
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• Secure bonds/grants and other funding sources to support infrastructure and promotional
investment
• Develop protocols for management of city facilities (industrial park development)
• Incorporate the county plan recommendation for establishing an employment center/zone near
Horsepond Road (consistent with county plan).
Goal 2: Revitalize the “Historic” Downtown Dover core as a Vibrant Town Center
Recommendation 3: Continue to Develop and Promote Incentives for Downtown Redevelopment
Understanding the interest of the public for preserving and enhancing the look and feel of Downtown
Dover, evaluate the slate of incentives for redevelopment within the downtown target area, and continue
to add incentives that will encourage a balanced mix of uses within the City’s core, with the intention
of improving opportunities, correcting negative conditions and eliminating vacancies.
Recommendation 4: Support the Downtown Dover Partnership and Restoring Central Dover
• Support and regularly coordinate with the Downtown Dover Partnership and Restoring Central
Dover program.
• Work with businesses in the Downtown Core District to keep market driven hours, continue to
offer specialized products and services, properly maintain building space (inside and out), and
enhance window displays.
• Heavily market all incentives to Downtown business and property owners, with emphasis in the
Historic Downtown Core District.
• Create and operate a one-stop- business development assistance function in City Hall.
• Create and publish “how to” brochures and other information for investors, prospective
entrepreneurs, property owners and other business. interests
• Encourage one-on-one consulting with the business and property owners. on a regular basis to
discuss the concerns and needs of owners and to identify service providers/incentives that can help
address those needs.
• Encourage businesses in the Downtown core to expand or contract current lines and services,
expand existing business space, and open new shops.
• Undertake a comprehensive process to develop a plan and strategies to address crime, vagrancy,
loitering and vandalism through community policing, code and criminal enforcement and public
awareness.
• Review and modify vacant building codes and procedures to incentivize reuse, reduce exemptions,
and enforce penalties on chronic vacancy.
• Undertake and support new business creation initiatives such as “Unlock the Block” and
“Launcher”
• Support as appropriate the NCALL Real Estate Development Plan for Central Dover
Recommendation 5: Support the Creation of a Visual Master Plan and Form-Based Code for Historic
Downtown Core
Work with the DDP and its Committees to develop a master plan for the Loockerman Street
Downtown Core area that is visually, and design based. Adopt form-based code provisions
that require that any plan consistent with the overall master plan would be subject to only
administrative review to the maximum extent possible.
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Recommendation 6: Support Mixed-Use Development
Promote zoning districts and regulations that support the traditional mixed-use nature of the
Downtown Core area.
• Ensure that regulation in the Downtown Core promotes personal, professional and service-
oriented businesses and alternative work-live and co-work opportunities.
• Encourage the Downtown Dover Partnership to provide technical assistance with the
permitting process and other processes necessary for opening a Downtown business.
• Create an Arts Co-op/ Arts & Entertainment designation for the Downtown area and recruit
artists to live and work in the area.
Goal 3: Ensure that Zoning Requirements City-wide Encourage the Uses Desired and Do Not
Create Impediments to Desired Business Growth
Recommendations 7: Review and Modify Zoning Regulations to Ensure that Desired Uses Are
Encouraged and Incompatible Uses are Tightly Controlled
• Review and realign existing industrial, office and commercial zones to ensure that industrial uses
are separated from incompatible uses and that zoning districts support the economic development
strategy.
• Separate light and heavy manufacturing to prohibit non-manufacturing entities within the heavy
manufacturing zone.
• Evaluate and update home occupation requirements in the Zoning Ordinance to encourage
infill and better align uses.
• Better define permitted and conditional uses in commercial and industrial zones.
• Develop appropriate zoning and other provisions that support development and expansion
of targeted businesses, such as at the Civil Air Terminal/Kent County Aeropark for aviation
and aeronautics uses.
• Explore creating new zoning provisions or districts that are responsive to emerging
strengths, such as in the health care, arts and entertainment, or tourism sectors.
Recommendation 8: Protect existing establishments from encroachment:
• Protect existing industrial, office park, and manufacturing establishments from
encroachment by incompatible land uses, which could result in nuisance complaints,
hazardous situations, and human conflict via regulations reducing/eliminating
development surrounding these areas.
• Protect Dover Air Force Base (DAFB) from encroachment by preventing incompatible
commercial and/or residential development east of SR 1 and within the Airport Environs
Overlay Zone (AEOZ).
Goal 4: Create an Environment for Long Term Economic Investment in Dover Focusing on Balanced
Growth, Green Technology and Entrepreneurial Businesses
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Recommendations 9: review zoning and land development ordinances to ensure the appropriateness of
uses within respective zone, to promote sustainability, encourage balanced sector growth, promotion of
small businesses and startups, and to ensure responsiveness to emerging economic and societal trends
Goal 5: Actively Market Garrison Oak Technology Park (Garrison Oak Business and Technology
Center)
Recommendation 10: Develop a Strategic Marketing Plan for Garrison Oak
• Consider remaining the park to “Garrison Oak Business and Technology Center” to broaden its
appeal to a larger universe of potential business activities, consistent with the original intent of the
facility
• Work with the Kent Economic Partnership and the state to effectively market the Center
• Urge DelDOT and the Dover/Kent MPO to undertake planning and design for a dedicated
connector from Route 1 to the Garrison Oak Business and Technology Center to improve access
and marketability.
Recommendation 11: Encourage the use of Garrison Oak as a potential site for green, alternative
and low-carbon energy plant(s), and for large technological and manufacturing firms that support
these industries.
Recommendation 12: Explore the potential of the Garrison Oak Business and Technology Center
for designation as a foreign trade zone.
Goal 6. Peruse economic development linked to active recreation
Recommendation #13: Promote business entrepreneurship linked with Dover’s trails, parks,
natural areas and other active recreation resources. Entrepreneurship may take many forms,
including retail, tour operators, concessions, and maintenance services.
• Consider contracting ontract with local businesses to provide services, such as maintenance
and concessions services, to city-owned park and recreation facilities
• Identify opportunities to use parks and trails as catalysts for economic development, such
as mixed-use development and other zoning changes near key parks
• Evaluate and promote economic development strategies (e.g. monetary or incentives),
linked to natural resources
Goal 7: Pursue economic development linked to improved healthy food access.
Recommendation #14: Encourage new ventures that expand healthy food options across Dover,
including corner markets, produce carts, food hubs, community gardens, farm stands and farmers
markets. Support existing grocery stores and other food retailers in expanding healthy food
availability through distribution chain development, technical assistance, marketing and
incentives.
• Support farmers market programs, and seek to expand them in priority areas
• Support the development of a City or County sponsored cart program
• Advocate for development of a local food hub
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• Advocate for the founding of a healthy corner store program
Goal 8: Promote inclusive workforce development programs, strategies and partnerships,
especially for disadvantaged groups
Recommendation #15: Support the development of workforce development programs, strategies
and partnerships that increase training and employment opportunities for all residents, especially
for youth and young adults, and for low income, communities of color, people with disabilities,
ex-offenders, and others that face economic injustices and barriers to employment.
• Collaborate with government and civil society partners on workforce development
initiatives
• Work closely with Dover’s institutions of higher education to link economic development
opportunities and targets with skills and professional training curricula.
• Prioritize contracting with women and minority-owned business
• Support entrepreneur-based development programs and technical assistance to grow future
business leaders.
Goal 9: Promote the revitalization and redevelopment of the Center City
Recommendation #16: Support initiatives to foster economic activity throughout the greater
center city areas adjacent to the Historic Downtown Core to develop linkages, enhance community
resources, promote neighborhoods, and create opportunities that are complementary to the goals
of the Restoring Central Dover and Downtown Development Programs.
• Support the development of a neighborhood development strategy for the areas
surrounding Governors, New, Queen, Kirkwood and West Streets and along W. Division
Street, to include creating an identity, fostering a variety of housing opportunities,
promoting neighborhood-scale businesses and building on the increasingly successful
blight removal efforts taking place in those areas.
• Implement recommendations of prior studies and plans for the Westside, the Transit Center
Neighborhood and the Forest/Loockerman gateway/corridors, including linking
redevelopment activities along S. Governors Avenue, Water Street, Bank Lane and West
Street with the Bayhealth Medical Center complex, the State Courts and other
governmental and educational facilities in the area.
• Develop a Government/Civic Complex plan that addresses the future needs of the City
including City Hall and other City offices, the old Dover Library, government complex
parking, recreation and open space, and the Mirror Lake/Loockerman Street gateway to the
City.
• Leverage positive investment from DSHA, Strong Neighborhood Housing Fund,
Neighborhood Building Block Fund, Opportunity Zone Program, and others to assist with
neighborhood redevelopment efforts.
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City of Dover
MAYOR AND COUNCIL
1 PROPOSED COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 2018-12
2 A RESOLUTION PROPOSING TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE GARRISON OAK
3 TECHNICAL PARK TO GARRISON OAK BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
4 WHEREAS, the City of Dover acquired the property known as the “Garrison Tract” in 1999 for purposes
5 of creating jobs and providing economic stability, and
6 WHEREAS, the State of Delaware provided funds from the FY 2000 Capital Improvements Act (Bond Bill)
7 in the amount of $2,000,000 to facilitate the site acquisition with the provision that the site be used as a
8 high-technology industrial park, and the site was designated as the “Garrison Oak Technical Park” and
9 marketed as such, and
10 WHEREAS, in accordance with epilogue language for the FY 2000 Bond Bill, a Memorandum of
11 Understanding was executed between the City of Dover, Kent County and the State of Delaware setting forth
12 various commitments regarding the responsibilities of each party. One condition contained in the epilogue
13 language identified the types of business to be targeted, such designation to be in effect until
14 January 1, 2010, after which the limitation can be altered by mutual agreement of the City of Dover and the
15 Delaware Economic Development Office (DEDO), and
16 WHEREAS, the City of Dover now desires to expand the purpose and nature of the Garrison Oak Technical
17 Park to reflect current business conditions and the changing marketplace, therefore improving its
18 marketability, and the Delaware Secretary of State has determined that with the elimination of DEDO, no
19 State approval of the name change is required.
20 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dover hereby directs the
21 Mayor to take necessary actions to cause the name to be changed to Garrison Oak Business and Technology
22 Center and market the Center to prospective businesses in cooperation with the Kent Economic Partnership
23 and the Delaware Prosperity Program.
24 ADOPTED: *
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27 ROBIN R. CHRISTIANSEN TIMOTHY A. SLAVIN
28 MAYOR COUNCIL PRESIDENT
29 Actions History
30 11/14/2018 - Scheduled for Introduction - Economic Development Committee
P.O. Box 475 Dover, Delaware 19903
Community Excellence Through Quality Service