Alvin Conaway, Marty Ross Sussex County FB 2017 award winners
Marty Ross, chairman of the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission, was asked to give an
update on the Comprehensive Plan at the Sussex County Farm Bureau Banquet Oct. 7 in Bridgeville. Ross
told the audience of more than 100 that an official public hearing is scheduled at 6 p.m. Nov. 2 at the
Posing with Marty Ross (second from left) at SCFB’s banquet were State Representatives Harvey Kenton, Ruth Briggs-King, Dave Wilson, Rich Collins and Charles Postles. Ross received the SCFB’s Distinguished service to Agriculture Award.
County Administration Building on the Circle in Georgetown.
“All the draft elements are posted on the Sussex Plan website,” Ross said. He called attention to the creation of an AB overlay zone, which will provide an opportunity for existing value-added facilities to expand or relocate and new ones to build. He also discussed the “purchase of density option” currently available in the AR zoning district where there is access to central sewer and water. “The Commission is suggesting that the purchase of density option be expanded to all residential districts,” he said.
Ross was surprised later when he received SCFB’s Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award.
A lifelong resident of Sussex County, Ross is the co-owner of Ross Bros, a poultry and grain farm located near Delmar, where he lives with his wife of 30 years, Chris. Their son, Michael, is a commercial diver in Thailand.
Burt Messick presented the award. “For 25 years, Marty was a high school and college basketball official, refereeing all through the state,” Messick said.
Ross has served on the Governor’s Advisory Council for State Planning Coordination since its inception, and was a member of the Delaware Energy Task Force formed by then Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.
He has represented Mid-Atlantic soybean producers on the National Biodiesel Board, and was appointed in 2004 as a director of the U.S. Soybean Board by then U.S. Ag Secretary Ann Veneman.
Ross is well known for his support of agriculture, his respect for rural property and his thorough understanding of land use issues. He has represented Delaware Farm Bureau on several land use and wetlands committees.
Ross commented, “What I’ve accomplished is because of Farm Bureau. An individual can do very little; a group can do a lot.”
The SCFB Farm Family of the Year was introduced by Jay Baxter, who said of the patriarch, Alvin Conaway, “The upbringing he gave to his children and they to their children helped shape my childhood.”