A newly introduced substitute bill in the Delaware legislature is seeking to overhaul the way the state handles land use permitting, with supporters saying the current system puts Delaware at a serious disadvantage compared to neighboring states.
The legislation, formally called the Reforming Opportunities and Accelerated Development for Delaware Act — or the ROAD-DE Act — serves as a substitute for House Bill No. 450. It builds upon Governor Meyer’s Executive Order No. 18, which established the Permitting Accelerator initiative to reform policies and procedures that have built up over decades and are slowing down job creation, housing development, and critical infrastructure projects across the state.
A study conducted in 2019 found that Delaware’s permitting process was considerably longer and more difficult to navigate than those of neighboring states. Then in 2025, as the state began moving to digitize its permitting systems, officials conducted more than 52 hours of interviews with 57 stakeholders spanning state agencies, local governments, developers, and technical experts. Those conversations revealed that the delays are not simply the result of individual performance problems — they run deeper, stemming from structural misalignment, processes that happen one step at a time rather than simultaneously, distorted incentives, and limited capacity across agencies.
Currently, Delaware’s permitting timeline can stretch beyond 24 months. By comparison, nearby competitors like Maryland and Pennsylvania are able to approve permits considerably faster, making them more appealing destinations for businesses and affordable housing projects.
The findings from both the 2019 and 2025 studies led to recommendations calling for a streamlined permitting process with better accountability and fewer redundancies — particularly within the Delaware Department of Transportation, known as DelDOT.
Among the bill’s key provisions, DelDOT would be required to base the threshold for requiring a traffic impact study on peak-hour trips rather than vehicle trips per day. The minimum threshold would be set at 500 peak-hour trips for residential developments, and 500 peak-hour trips — not counting pass-by trips — for all other types of development. Counties and municipalities would be required to follow the same standard.
The bill also includes certain residential density requirements for counties and municipalities, and would require DelDOT to deploy and maintain automated technology systems for monitoring and managing transportation infrastructure and traffic operations. Engineering studies conducted by DelDOT could utilize tools such as automated data collection, remote sensing, digital imaging, and algorithmic traffic pattern analysis.
Additionally, the legislation would require DelDOT to establish and collect transportation impact fees statewide, using the money raised to fund off-site improvements that bring existing transportation infrastructure up to current state standards. The funds collected in a given county must be spent in that county — unless the county or its municipalities fail to adopt the required traffic impact study and residential density standards outlined in the bill.
This substitute version differs from the original House Bill No. 450 in several ways. It modifies the residential density requirements, adds a requirement for DelDOT to consult with local municipal governments on how impact fee revenue is spent, raises a surcharge on the transportation impact fee from 1% to 2%, and adds the Brownfield Development Program as one of the programs eligible to receive money from that surcharge.
Because the bill indirectly amends municipal charters through a general law, it requires more than a simple majority to pass — specifically, a two-thirds vote of all elected members in each chamber of the General Assembly, as required under the Delaware Constitution.
