By Rachel Sawicki

MIDDLETOWN — The mayor and Town Council continued discussion about a comprehensive plan update Tuesday, talking through land use and preparing for a public forum next month.

“We talked about designated areas for future growth, which are minimal,” Mayor Kenneth Branner Jr. said. “We talked about bike paths, which we’re big on, and working around how to interconnect developments, along with commercial and industrial.”

The mayor said he is focused on economic development, as well as creating jobs so Middletown has a diverse population. He noted that high-paying jobs would make a big difference.

“Getting major employers here, including Amazon, that’s a big thing for me, rather than people having to drive somewhere (out of town) to go to work,” he said. “But that is always the last thing you get because companies won’t come here unless you can support them.”

He added that Middletown has kept ahead of the need for water, sewer, electricity and roads, so when developers do consider the area, they’re more inclined to buy a property that is already prepared.

Sean O’Neill, a policy scientist at the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration, is working with Middletown officials on the comprehensive plan, which was last updated 15 years ago. He said another focus is creating a more diverse housing market. However, he added, some of the recommendations for multifamily, mixed-use housing may need to be retooled, due to negative feedback from the public on recent proposals for those types of residences.

Mr. O’Neill also said the town would likely be reluctant to rezone areas that are slated for shopping development to construct apartments instead.

“Mixed-use can mean any mix of uses, but it typically means residential over retail,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be that though. Theoretically, like, you could say Westown is a mixed-use area with apartments right next to retail. So even though they’re not mixed on the same property, like that area, you could say it is sort of mixed-use.”

From a “best-practices” planning perspective, Mr. O’Neill said it is ideal to have mixed-income housing and different home types — multifamily town houses, duplexes and/or single-family residences — so a variety of people can live and work in the same community.

“It’s not unique to Middletown that, oftentimes, the public does not like new multifamily and affordable (housing) proposals,” he said. “So then, the elected leaders pull back.”

He also noted that Middletown has grown exponentially in the last few decades, so pullback was inevitable at some point — what he called the “not-in-my-backyard phenomenon.” The comprehensive plan is meant to have a 20-year horizon, however, so things like population projections have to be taken into consideration.

“A lot of people will say they’re for affordable housing, and they think people should be able to live where they want,” he said. “But then, the proposal comes up next to their neighborhood, and they’re not happy about it for a variety of reasons, which is totally understandable. But it is part of the reason why we have a housing crisis (across the country) because it is just very difficult to get affordable housing and multifamily housing zoned and approved.”

Overall, Mayor Branner said the town is filling in the comprehensive plan created in 2007 and is on track to meet the goals that were set then.

“We will annex maybe a little bit here and there but nothing major, no major expansion,” he said. “We figured 15 years ago that we’d get (a population of) about 25,000 built out, and that’s about where we’re going to end up.”

A public forum is expected to be held at the Volunteer Hose Co. on March 31 from 5-8 p.m., during which residents can learn more about the plan update, ask questions and submit feedback. The meeting details are subject to change, but information will be posted here.