Georgetown, Del., Nov. 15, 2011: Sussex County leaders have settled on new boundaries that will shape the representation of County government for the decade ahead.

County Council, at its Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011, meeting, adopted a redistricting ordinance and accompanying maps that establish new Council districts through 2021, this after last year’s U.S. Census showed significant growth and shifts in the population between 2000 and 2010.

The five new districts will be used to determine residency and the areas represented by members of County Council, a five-member legislative body of County government whose members are elected from individual districts. Each member serves a four-year term.

Redistricting is required every 10 years following the federal census. The new district maps take effect immediately.

“I believe what Council has approved strikes the correct balance and satisfies a lot of diverse interests among the people and communities of Sussex County,” Council President Michael H. Vincent said. “Drawing lines on a map can be a very subjective process, but this was about as apolitical, open and fair as any redistricting process I have ever seen.”

Council’s adoption follows an October public hearing and a first-of-its-kind process in Sussex, in which residents were invited as early as late June to offer suggestions – and then comments on the draft proposals – for how the new Council districts should look for the next decade. The County received more than 60 comments by email, mail and in person throughout the three-step process as it worked to come up with new maps and a formal ordinance.

The new plan, which was developed by County Attorney J. Everett Moore, Jr., and consultant Richard Carter, keeps all five current Council members in their seats, and does not force any sitting member to run against another in the 2012 election.

There were a number of changes to the boundaries, though, including an increase in the size of District 1 to now include Bridgeville with Seaford and Laurel, and contraction of District 3, where population growth in the Lewes and Milton areas during the past 10 years left the district with too many constituents. District 2, which abuts both Districts 1 and 3, saw some changes in its boundaries due to the changes in Districts 1 and 3; Districts 4 and 5 were relatively unchanged.

By law, the County must adjust its Council districts – the process known as redistricting – following each decennial census to equally distribute the population among the five County Council districts. Based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 population results for Delaware, Sussex County’s population increased nearly 26 percent between 2000 and 2010, from 156,638 residents to 197,145 residents.

Given those figures, each Council district needed to be within plus or minus 5 percent of an ideal population of 39,429 residents, containing no fewer than 37,458 residents and no more than 41,401 residents. The newly adopted plan satisfies those requirements, Mr. Moore said.

Copies of the adopted maps are available online by visiting the County’s website at sussexcountyde.gov and clicking on the ‘County Council District Maps’ link on the right side of the main page.

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