In response to housing affordability pressures, rising construction costs, and growing demand for new infrastructure, Delaware is moving to accelerate how major projects move through the permitting process in the state.

In February 2026, Governor Matt Meyer signed Executive Order No. 18, establishing a statewide “Permitting Accelerator” designed to coordinate state agency reviews and reduce delays for projects involving housing, energy, broadband, water infrastructure, and mixed-use development. The initiative aims to bring greater predictability, accountability, and transparency to the state’s permitting system, while preserving environmental protections and public safety standards.

EO-18 focuses on improving coordination and efficiency at the state level, but its implications extend beyond that. While EO-18 does not override local zoning authority or require immediate action from municipalities, it signals a broader shift toward faster, more coordinated permitting across the development process. For local governments, staying informed now can help prepare for changes in expectations around timelines, coordination, and transparency in the near future. 

Why Delaware is Focusing on Permitting Reform

Permitting reform has become a growing priority in Delaware as state leaders confront lengthy approval timelines for major development projects.

Within the first one hundred words of Executive Order No. 18, the administration notes that Delaware’s permitting processes have in some cases taken 18 to 24 months or longer to reach final determinations. This slows the delivery of housing and infrastructure while increasing costs and uncertainty for developers and communities. 

And these inefficiencies have real consequences for communities working to address housing shortages. According to the Delaware State Housing Authority’s 2023 Housing Needs Assessment, about half of renters in Delaware spend more than 30% of their income on housing, while the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports a shortage of more than 14,000 affordable rental units across the state. 

According to the executive order, institutional delays not only set back housing progress, but put Delaware at a competitive disadvantage compared to neighboring states with more streamlined review processes. Notably, Executive Order No. 18 was issued just weeks after New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed an executive order aimed at modernizing and digitizing permitting across New Jersey. That order also calls for evaluating new technology, like emerging AI tools, to help streamline permitting review. This reflects a broader regional push to improve permitting efficiency and evaluate how modern tooling can support faster, more coordinated review processes.

Overview of Executive Order No. 18

The Delaware Permitting Accelerator established by EO-18 is designed to streamline regulatory review for projects that support Delaware’s long-term growth. The five overarching goals, as identified by the official state press release, are as follows:

• Accelerate delivery of priority infrastructure including housing, energy, broadband, water and wastewater systems, and mixed-use development  through coordinated and parallel permitting, allowing multiple agencies to review projects at the same time rather than sequentially 
• Reduce uncertainty and delays by establishing clearer timelines, agency points of contact, and escalation procedures
• Support smarter growth by prioritizing infill sites, growth areas, and development in locations already served by existing infrastructure
• Preserve statutory authority and public protections to ensure full compliance with Delaware law and existing environmental and public participation requirements
• Improve transparency and performance tracking through public dashboards, reporting requirements, and measurable permitting metrics

The order is effective immediately, with full implementation of the Permitting Accelerator targeted within one year. 

What This Means for Delaware Communities

Because development projects in Delaware involve both state and local review, municipalities remain central to how efficiently projects move from proposal to construction. As the Permitting Accelerator is implemented, the state is also introducing new accountability measures such as a public Priority Project Dashboard and regular agency reporting on permitting timelines and performance. As a result, local governments will begin to see increased expectations around coordination, transparency, and permitting performance.

Here’s what municipalities should expect in the months and years ahead: 

Short-term implications may include:

• Greater coordination with state agencies as priority infrastructure projects move through both local and state review.
• Rising expectations from developers and contractors for faster permitting timelines as the state works to shorten approval timelines for priority projects.
• Increased need for reliable tracking of application status, review stages, and approval timelines as public dashboards and reporting increase visibility into permitting performance.

Long-term implications may include:

• More integrated review across permitting, planning, engineering, utilities, and inspections as housing and infrastructure projects require closer coordination across departments.
• Investment in digital permitting software, including emerging AI tools, as municipalities move away from paper-based workflows to support faster timelines and more reliable reporting.
• Change management across departments to ensure consistent adoption of updated permitting processes, technology, and coordination practices.
• Improved communication with residents, contractors, and developers regarding timelines, application status, and next steps as the state’s focus on faster permitting raises expectations for responsiveness at the local level.

As departments work to improve coordination, transparency, and permitting timelines, many are also evaluating digital tools, including AI-assisted technologies, that can help automate routine checks and support more efficient workflows. As these efforts expand, local governments will encounter similar expectations to modernize permitting workflows.

Where Local Permitting in Delaware Falls Short of State-Level Expectations

Many of the operational challenges the Permitting Accelerator seeks to address at the state level will feel familiar to local governments across Delaware. In many communities, permitting workflows still rely on manual processes, email chains, or legacy systems that make coordination across departments difficult. Applications may be submitted as paper forms or emailed PDFs that require staff re-entry, while reviews move sequentially between planning, zoning, engineering, and inspections with limited visibility into project status for applicants.

The Permitting Accelerator takes aim at manual processes like these, as delays caused by fragmented permitting processes at the local level slow the delivery of projects like housing developments that communities urgently need.

Unfortunately, many existing permitting systems were not designed to support these gaps. Cross-department coordination and real-time reporting requires capabilities that many legacy systems were not designed to provide, including:

• Real-time dashboards and reporting tools that give staff visibility into permit volume, turnaround times, backlogs, and inspection schedules without relying on manual spreadsheets
• End-to-end community development system, creating one platform for connected records within permitting, planning and zoning, code enforcement, and licensing
• Configurable workflows that can be customized to reflect how each municipality coordinates reviews across their departments
• Public portals to provide residents and contractors with clear access to permitting requirements and application materials in one centralized location
• Automatic online and email notifications throughout the review and approval process
• AI-powered AutoCheck capabilities to automatically catch issues early on and assist with faster, more consistent plan review
• 24/7 public support with community assistant to help residents and contractors quickly find permitting documents and answer questions about local requirements and code

Solutions like GovWell are designed to help local governments meet the expectations of EO-15 with all of these features, and more. GovWell helps municipalities and counties move from outdated or paper workflows to a more modern solution, integrating permitting, planning, inspections, and code enforcement into a single, AI-powered platform. With online applications, insight dashboards, AI plan review, and fully integrated workflows,municipalities can better align their workflows with the growing need for permitting efficiency and transparency.

As Delaware communities evaluate how EO-15 may influence the broader development process, now is the time for local leaders to assess existing workflows. Legacy systems can be upgraded to help housing and infrastructure projects move from proposal to construction more quickly.

How Delaware Municipalities Can Prepare Now

The shift toward faster, more coordinated permitting is already underway. 

Municipalities that take proactive steps now will be better positioned as Delaware rolls out the Permitting Accelerator, introduces new dashboards, and begins tracking permitting performance more closely. Here are several key steps local officials can take now:

• Audit current permitting workflows to understand how applications move from intake to final approval and where delays may occur.‍
• Map end-to-end approval timelines across departments to identify where projects slow down as they move between planning, zoning, engineering, inspections, and other departments‍
• Identify bottlenecks that delay housing and infrastructure projects, particularly where handoffs between departments or agencies creates friction in the review process.‍
• Evaluate modern permitting and planning technologies, including emerging AI-assisted tools, to determine how new systems can support stronger coordination, clearer status tracking, and improved transparency for applicants. ‍
• Align leadership around modernization priorities, ensuring permitting, planning, IT, and executive teams share a clear roadmap for improving performance.

Even a simple internal review can help municipalities understand where current processes are working and where modernization could make a meaningful impact.

The Opportunity Ahead

With Executive Order No. 18, Delaware is taking aim at inadequate systems that have slowed the delivery of housing, critical infrastructure, and economic development projects across the state. Municipalities and counties across Delaware have a similar opportunity to drastically improve permitting timelines and meet state expectations around permitting speed, transparency, and coordination.

GovWell is here to support local governments across Delaware. We’re closely tracking how communities are responding to EO-18, along with the permitting modernization strategies emerging across the region. If your municipality is evaluating next steps, talk with our team to learn how smarter permitting workflows can help streamline operations and support the faster development of housing and infrastructure that communities depend on.