Milton Town Council members let out a long sigh of relief after approving the town’s comprehensive development plan Dec. 3.

Approval came, “after six years and a few dollars,” said Mayor Ted Kanakos. In casting his vote, Councilman Charlie Fleetwood said, “Yes, please.” Kanakos said he had been working on the plan, first as a member of the planning and zoning commission, then as councilman and finally as mayor.

The last time the plan was updated was 2010; town officials had been working on this version since 2014. Originally, town officials planned to update the plan, but in 2015, they agreed to a complete rewrite. Over the next two years, the town held a dozen public workshops and surveyed 600 residents. By March 2017, the town had spent $50,000 updating the plan.

Part of the reason for the complete plan overhaul was to take into account the growth of the town since the 2010 plan. Population increased by 44 percent from 2005 to 2010, from 1,780 to 2,576, and 19 percent more from 2010 to 2015. The town’s population stands at nearly 2,900, and the updated plan anticipates the population will climb above 3,000 by 2020.

Major issues included are affordable housing, parks and open space, a buffer area around the Broadkill River and pollution-control strategies.

On affordable housing, the plan update calls for seeking support from state and county sources to implement programs to reduce financing, construction and operating costs for new and existing homeowners. Officials will also consider incentives to subdivision and site-plan codes to encourage developers to provide affordable housing units.

The plan update also calls for evaluating areas along the Broadkill River for boat and kayak launches, and encouraging developers to include small parks or tot lots. A community center for teenagers will also be considered.

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control recommended studying the feasibility of upgrades to the town’s stormwater infrastructure to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and bacteria. DNREC also asked the town to require stormwater review for new developments. Finally, DNREC recommended the town require developers of residential and commercial properties where more than 20 percent of the property is impervious to submit a mitigation plan to demonstrate the impervious surface will not impact groundwater recharge or water quality.

Delaware Department of Transportation asked the town to address better connectivity, including the expansion of the town’s trail network, and to consider the effects of the new Bayhealth hospital in Milford and developments in the surrounding area.

On the first point, the town will expand the Rails to Trails from Federal Street to Lavinia Street in part to connect the town to the Wagamon’s West Shores development. Clearing of the site is already underway and construction will begin in the summer.

Milton received a first round of comments from the state’s Preliminary Land Use Service in February. After addressing those comments, PLUS gave town council the go-ahead to approve the plan, which will now be submitted to Gov. John Carney for his signature.