Enabling statute

Delaware

Title 22, Chapter 3 — Municipal Zoning Regulations; and Title 9 — Counties (county Zoning chapters, e.g., Ch. 26 New Castle County)

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Summary

Delaware follows the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act lineage and delegates zoning power to local governments rather than retaining it at the state level. Municipalities (cities and incorporated towns) receive their authority under Title 22, Chapter 3, with the core grant of power in § 301 and the authority to create districts in § 302. The state's three counties are each empowered to zone their unincorporated areas under Title 9, in county-specific chapters: New Castle County (Chapter 26, grant in § 2601), Kent County (Chapter 49), and Sussex County (Chapter 69). Thus zoning authority in Delaware is held concurrently by municipalities and counties, with counties governing land outside incorporated municipal boundaries.

The delegation

MUNICIPAL ENABLING ACT — Del. Code Ann. tit. 22, ch. 3: § 301. Grant of power. "For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals or the general welfare of the community, the legislative body of cities and incorporated towns may regulate and restrict the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, percentage of lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes." § 302. Division into districts; regulations. "For any or all of the purposes provided in § 301 of this title, the legislative body may divide the municipality into districts of such number, shape and area as may be deemed best suited to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and within such districts it may regulate and restrict the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair or use of buildings, structures or land. All such regulations shall be uniform for each class or kind of buildings throughout each district but the regulations in 1 district may differ from those in other districts." COUNTY ENABLING ACT — Del. Code Ann. tit. 9, ch. 26, subch. I (New Castle County; parallel chapters apply to Kent County (ch. 49) and Sussex County (ch. 69)): § 2601. Grant of power. "The County Council may, in accordance with the conditions and procedure specified in this subchapter, regulate the location, height, bulk and size of buildings, parking areas, and other structures . . ." — applicable to "any portion or portions of New Castle County which lie outside of incorporated municipalities." § 2602. Zoning plan and regulations. "For any or all of the purposes specified in § 2601 of this title the County Council may divide the territory of New Castle County into districts or zones of such number, shape, or area as it may determine . . ."

Verification

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Verified against the official Delaware Code (delcode.delaware.gov) and Justia/FindLaw mirrors of the 2024/2025 Delaware Code. (a) Real & current statutes — CONFIRMED: - Title 22, Ch. 3 "Municipal Zoning Regulations": § 301 is "Grant of power" (the enabling grant for cities and incorporated towns); § 302 authorizes dividing the municipality into districts. Present in the current (2025) code. - Title 9 county zoning: New Castle Co. = Ch. 26 "Zoning," § 2601 "Power of County Council; area subject to regulation" (the grant). Kent Co. = Ch. 49 "Zoning," § 4901 "Power of county government; area subject to regulation." Sussex Co. = Ch. 69 "Zoning," §§ 6901 et seq. All present in current code. (b) Genuinely the zoning enabling authority — CONFIRMED. § 301 (Title 22) and §§ 2601/4901/6901-et-seq. (Title 9) are the standard-enabling-act-lineage grants of zoning power to municipalities and to the three counties for their unincorporated areas. Not repealed or unrelated. (c) authority_model = county_and_municipal — ACCURATE. Delaware delegates zoning concurrently to municipalities (Title 22 Ch. 3) and to each county (Title 9, county-specific chapters) for land outside incorporated municipalities; the state does not retain zoning. Matches the claim. Minor (non-correcting) note: For Sussex County, § 6901 is "Definitions"; the actual grant of power to the Levy Court is § 6902. The claim cites "§§ 6901 et seq." (chapter-start pin-cite) and does not assert § 6901 is the grant section, so the citation as written is accurate. The summary's specific grant-section call-outs (NCC § 2601, muni § 301/302) are all correct.