Update: Passed
August 26,2025
“Rezoning on Demand — How R25-127 Quietly Gave Developers the Upper Hand.”

Power Behind Closed Doors

A Series on Council Rule Changes That Quietly Strip Away Accountability

By Karen Hartley-Nagle, Former President of New Castle County Council (2016–2024)​​​

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They Changed the Rules in the Dark

Two “procedural” votes that rewired rezonings—

and why families, not insiders, will pay

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When politicians want less scrutiny, they don’t say it out loud—

they change the rules.

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On Tuesday, August 26, 2026, County Council pushed through two process rewrites with the subtlety of a pickpocket: no debate, no straight talk, and no respect for the people who live with the consequences. Those votes did three things at once: shrunk public notice, erased predictability, and tilted the playing field toward special interests.

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The moves weren’t accidental. They were architectural.

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What passed—plain English, zero spin

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1) The “short-cut introduction.”
Council amended Rule 4 so a majority can stop a title mid-read and, by motion, declare the ordinance “formally introduced.” That’s not transparency; that’s a trapdoor for controversial items.

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2) The rezoning calendar—deleted.
For decades, rezonings were bundled three fixed times a year—first regular meetings in February, June, and October—so neighborhoods had foreknowledge and a fair shot to organize. Council struck those dates and replaced them with a vague “as set forth in the Code.” Translation: rezonings can pop up when you’re not looking. Prime sponsor: Councilwoman Janet Kilpatrick.

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The old cadence wasn’t quaint; it was a guardrail born from hard lessons. When you remove guardrails, speed and secrecy win.

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Why those guardrails existed in the first place

 

In the late 1990s, Delaware learned the cost of hands-off land use: sprawl that outpaced roads and sewers, and communities forced to chase hearings they could barely find—let alone influence. A 1997 News Journal editorial told it bluntly: counties needed to assert discipline or expect the state to step back in. The public, not the insiders, had been paying the bill.

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That’s exactly the discipline Council just unfastened.

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(Editorial clipping archived on this page.)

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The new playbook: speed, surprise, silence

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Speed. A mid-title motion now counts as “formal introduction.” The clock shortens, and communities lose the only asset they have:

time to mobilize.

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Surprise. Without fixed rezoning nights, applications can be dropped onto thin-attendance agendas—vacation weeks, holiday eves, and moments when working families can’t re-arrange life to get to the microphone.

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Silence. Rushed process starves real debate. That’s not efficiency; that’s avoidance dressed as reform. And it’s how bad land-use decisions happen to good neighborhoods.

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How you’ll feel it—on your street, not theirs

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• Traffic and commute time. Fast-tracked rezonings don’t add lane miles; they add cars.

• Sewer and stormwater strain. When capacity planning lags approvals, you get the backups and basement bills.

• School crowding. “We’ll figure it out later” turns into later is your problem.

• Tax and fee pressure. Infrastructure delayed is infrastructure paid—by you.

 

These are not hypotheticals. They were the 1990s outcomes that forced our county to build predictability into land use. We just ripped it out.

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Who benefits

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• Developers and lobby teams that can sprint filings to low-profile meetings and out-organize ordinary residents who need time to prepare.

• Councilmembers who prefer quieter rezoning calendars and shorter spotlights.

• Anyone with inside notice. When timing becomes a weapon, insiders hold the only ammunition.

 

And who loses?

 

Families—in minutes, miles, and money.

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The same night: a “review” that wasn’t

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That evening, Council defeated a Tyler Technologies reassessment “review” 7–6. I opposed using the County Auditor in that role and laid out why here: My detailed position on the reassessment “review”. For the record, the introduced resolution would have tasked the Auditor to examine valuation methods, QA controls, appeals timing, and whether to recommend an outside audit—a scope spelled out in the text.

 

The treatment of the public that night was shameful—talked over, cut off, dismissed. Masks dropped. Everyone watching finally saw the game.

 

If I were in the chair

 

This wouldn’t have slid through. The rezoning cadence existed to level the field for ordinary people. It protected them from exactly what happened Tuesday night: process engineered to make the public late to its own future. When Council President, that deletion would have been stopped or amended in daylight—period.

 

What has to happen now

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1. Restore the rezoning calendar—explicitly. Put February/June/October back in black-and-white so every HOA, civic group, and parent knows when to show up.

2. End the mid-title gimmick. “Formal introduction” should mean a full, audible title—not a blink-and-you-miss-it motion.

3. Publish one-page plain-English summaries and roll calls for every consequential land-use vote. Accountability shouldn’t require a law degree.

4. Respect the microphone. Disagreement is democratic. Disrespect is disqualifying.

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Source documents (open on this page)

 

File 

New Castle County Council_Rule Change Introduction by Clerk of Council_8-2-2025.pdf

**Resolution 25‑149**: Amends Rule 4 so a majority can treat a partial title reading as the full “formal introduction.” (PDF)

 

File

New Castle County Council_Revising Procedural Rule for Rezonong.pdf

**Resolution 25‑127**: Deletes the explicit February/June/October rezoning schedule and replaces it with a vague Code reference; sponsors include Mr. Tackett and Ms. Kilpatrick. (PDF)

 

File

Audit_Tyler Technologies Legislation_Tackett and Toole_Introduction 8-2-2025.docx

**Tyler “Review” Resolution (Introduced)**: Outlines the proposed Auditor scope on reassessment methods, QA, oversight, and appeals. (DOCX)

 

Additional context:

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• 1997 editorial warning against lax county land-use controls; scanned clipping displayed above on this page.

• My reassessment analysis: karenhartleynagle.com/copy-of-ncc-reassessment-2025-4

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References

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• New Castle County Council. (2025, Aug. 26). Resolution No. 25-149: To amend New Castle County Council Procedural Rule 4 regarding introduction of ordinances. (Council document, uploaded with this article).

• New Castle County Council. (2025, Aug. 26). Resolution No. 25-127: To amend Council Procedural Rule No. 4 regarding certain meetings. (Council document, uploaded with this article).

• New Castle County Council. (2025, Aug. 26). Providing for a review of the recent reassessment of New Castle County. (Introduced resolution text, uploaded with this article).

• The News Journal Editorial Board. (1997). Once New Castle County takes control of land use, state can safely step back. Editorial clipping (archival copy displayed on this page).

• Hartley-Nagle, K. (2025). NCC reassessment “review” (Tyler Technologies): Why I opposed using the Auditor. Retrieved from https://www.karenhartleynagle.com/copy-of-ncc-reassessment-2025-4​

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Bottom line:  Process is policy. Tuesday’s changes weren’t housekeeping—they were a heist. Put the guardrails back before the bill for secrecy arrives on your street, your school, and your water bill.