The mayor and council members in Frederica, Del., realized they had a problem when absentee landlords began converting single-family homes into apartment houses and other developers started talking about locating mobile home parks within the town limits.

With no comprehensive land-use plan or zoning ordinance, the central Delaware community lacked the means to regulate its growth and development in a way that would preserve the small-town atmosphere that most residents prize, Dianne Rager, a former council member, says. And, she adds, with only 648 residents and no full-time employees other than police, the town lacked both the expertise and the resources for professional land-use planning.

Like other Delaware municipalities in the same situation, Frederica turned to CHEP's Institute for Public Administration (IPA), which provides planning assistance to towns.

"They were very helpful to us and very knowledgeable," Rager says. "We really had no idea about the process of developing a comprehensive plan--or even where to start. The IPA staff and graduate students came in and met with us, gave us suggestions and worked us all the way through the process."

The IPA planning program has been offering assistance to towns for about 10 years, providing a practical learning experience for graduate students as well as community service. In the past couple of years, since Gov. Ruth Ann Minner implemented the "Livable Delaware" initiative to better manage development and limit suburban sprawl throughout the state, demand for the services has increased, according to IPA director Jerome Lewis.

"The towns were already required to do a comprehensive plan, but Livable Delaware put more teeth into the requirement," Lewis says. "We have a partnership agreement with the Office of State Planning Coordination, and the number of requests for our services has exploded recently."

Students working with IPA's planning program participate in a practicum, which uses a group-based approach and works with towns in Delaware on such issues as future land use and economic development. Assigned to work with a particular town, the team then meets with public officials and citizens to begin the process of developing a comprehensive plan. The lead instructor for the practicum, Ed O'Donnell, guides and oversees the team's work.

"We provide the capabilities to do things that small towns normally would never be able to afford to do," says James Vadakin, an IPA research assistant who is pursuing a master's degree in public administration and is part of the team that began work in Frederica last year. "It's a great deal for the towns, but it's great for the students, too, because we get so much hands-on experience."

The program's instructional goal, Lewis says, is to merge classroom teaching and the real-world experience of working with communities and with planning professionals. "We've reinvented the research assistantship, so students aren't just sitting behind the professor in the back of the room crunching numbers," he says. "They're outside actually doing something. The instructors are like coaches, pushing the students forward and supporting them while they do the work."

Stephanie Gernert, who participated in the program and the Frederica project, says she and the other students appreciated the independence they were given to work and solve problems as a team.

"We were able to do a lot on our own because the IPA staff trust us and don't feel the need to hover over us," she says. "Working in a group can be tough when things don't go smoothly, but that teamwork is a very valuable skill, and I really benefited from learning it."

Gernert and her colleagues on the team met with Frederica's elected officials, all of whom serve without pay, and with citizens to determine what goals the town wished to accomplish in its comprehensive plan. They discussed and researched a variety of issues, including zoning, annexation, demographics, history, water resources, municipal services, schools, transportation, utilities and environmental concerns. The students discovered that Frederica, despite its small size and rural location 10 miles south of Dover, Del., is potentially a prime target for development--thanks to low taxes and a new highway that makes it more accessible to both Dover and Wilmington.

"We had to accurately reflect land use now and also what it is going to be like in the future," team member and CHEP graduate student Troy Mix says. "The lack of zoning in the town forced us to learn a lot, because we started out with a completely blank slate. It was a difficult project in that sense."

That situation isn't unusual in working with small communities, Lewis says. "Some people may think it would be easier in a small town, but it's more complicated than you think," he says. "It requires more thinking through and explaining the process to residents."

The students say they also learned always to keep in mind that they were providing a service to the town, not imposing their own ideas.

"Ultimately, the plan we come up with is for the town," IPA research assistant Christine Godek says. "That's why there's so much importance placed on getting the community involved. We're the ones who draw it all together, but the plan has to be something the town can actually use."

For Delaware's towns, IPA's planning assistance is a welcome service, Martin Wollaston, manager of the program, says. Since Livable Delaware was put into place, he says, "We have towns standing in line waiting for our help."

For students, participating in the program is a valuable part of their broader education in public administration that extends far beyond the planning field, Lewis says.

"It gives them experience working with citizen groups, getting involved with different levels of government, problem-solving and being part of a team," he says. "A lot of the people on this team will not end up being land-use planners someday, but they will still find these kinds of experiences very helpful in whatever work they do."

--Amie Voith, AS '03