Delaware 22 Del. C. Chapter 8 — Municipal Home Rule Act (Wilmington) (DE)

Tracked preemption from the Delaware overlay bundle.

Overview

Effective
1965-01-01
Sunset
Authority
state
Scope
state:DE

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

AND
  • city.population 1000
  • city.charter_type == home_rule

Preempted fields

1 field on the base district schema is rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
zoning_authority_sourceoverridehome_rule_charter_subject_to_general_state_lawHome-rule municipalities have plenary zoning authority subject only to general state law

Citation

Authority source
22 Del. C. §801 et seq. (Municipal Home Rule Act)
§ 22 Del. C. Ch. 8
https://delcode.delaware.gov/title22/c008/index.html

Research notes

Permits municipalities of 1,000+ population to adopt a home-rule charter by referendum. Wilmington is the only Delaware municipality operating under a full home-rule charter adopted via this mechanism (1965). Dover, Newark, and other larger towns operate under special legislative charters granted directly by the General Assembly — broad in practice but structurally still delegated authority under Ch. 3, not constitutional home rule.