Village of Arden, Delaware

A Single-Tax Community, Founded 1900

You are welcome hither! The Village of Arden, Delaware

Welcome to the Village of Arden, Delaware

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September Meeting of the Town Assembly: September 28, 2026

7:00 PM Social 1/2 Hour/7:30 PM Meeting @The Arden Gild Hall

Note: This Agenda is a preliminary DRAFT and does not reflect the complete or final agenda. The Advisory Board will formally finalize all agenda items on September 8.

  • Communications from the Town Chair
  • Trustees Report
  • Treasurers Report
  • Advisory Committee Report
    • Nomination for Board of Assessors
  • Board of Assessors
  • Committee Reports (Ascending Order)
    • Archives
    • Audit
    • Budget
      • MOTION to Approve 2027-2028 Budget Ballot for Referendum
    • BWVC
    • Civic
    • Community Planning
    • Forest
    • Playground
    • Registration
      • MOTION to approve Electronic Voting System Policy
    • Safety
  • Old Business:
    • MOTION requesting NCC for a special exemption (variance) from their standard ADU zoning regulations.

June Meeting of the Town Assembly:  June 22, 2026

7:00 PM Social 1/2 Hour / 7:30 PM Meeting @The Gild Hall

 

2026 Election Results of Committees & Officers

Click Here to see the March 23 election results.

Town Assembly March 23, 2026

Come early to the Gild Hall, starting at 7PM, to chat with your neighbors, committee members, and Town officers to socialize and learn more about your Town Assembly.  Refreshments will be served!

Agenda:

Click on Postcard icon to view the March Town Assembly Agenda Postcard March 2026

The March agenda includes the ordinances scheduled to be read in their entirety, and those ordinances are being posted in advance of the meeting. For committees that submitted their reports early, we are also posting those reports ahead of time for your convenience.  By receiving this information in advance, residents are able to review the materials, understand the issues, and arrive at the meeting better prepared for discussion. We hope this helps clarify what will be addressed at the meeting.

Ordinances:

First reading  of this proposed Ordinance is scheduled:

  • Ordinance #14 – Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) (click here to see proposed New Ordinance 14)
    • Why is this revision needed now? Click here to read the Introduction to Revisions.
    • Plus check out the ADU Info Guide that accompanies Ordinance 14 to help guide leaseholders in the process of creating or decertifying ADUs in Arden.

Second reading of these proposed Ordinances is scheduled:

Town Assembly Reports:

TrusteesReportTownMeetingMarch2026

March 23 2026 TA] Trustees Financials

Advisory Report TA March 2026

BOA TA Report 0

3.23.2026

2026 BOA Mtg Calendar TA Report 03.23.2026

Archives-Report-March2026-Town-Meeting

Budget TA Report 03.23.2026

BUDGET 3 YEAR FORECAST 2027-2030

Civic DRAFT Town Meeting Report 03-23-2026 Draft (1)

BWVC Report_Town Meeting_23Mar26

Community Planning Report to TA March 2026

Forest Committee Report for Arden Town Assembly

Playground Comm. Report Town Mtg 03-2026

Charter Updates

Passed Senate 1/29/26
Is now sent to the House for consideration

Changes compared to our current Charter can be viewed here: CharterChanges

Click here for results of the 2025 Charter Vote

Thank you Senator Ray Seigfried (our Senate District 5) and Representative Larry Lambert (our Representative District 7) for working with us, representing us, and sponsoring this bill.

Town Assembly January 26, 2026 (Rescheduled to February 9, 2026)

Come early to the Gild Hall, starting at 7PM, to chat with your neighbors, committee members, and Town officers to socialize and learn more about your Town Assembly.  Refreshments will be served!

TA Jan 2026 Agenda

Information & Discussion – Thurs. January 22  7PM @ TheBuzz–Ask questions about the Agenda items. Learn about Town Meeting.

Scheduled motions:

  • Governance & Charter Changes: Motion Address coverage for Charter changes Re: New Ordinances
  • Community Planning: Motion in response to WILMAPCO – Milky Way/Clubhouse Paths at Harvey Rd Crossing
  • Civic: Commission and install two Memorials for Walt Whitman and Soldiers & Sailors Memorial on the Arden Green.

Scheduled readings:

First reading of these proposed ordinances is scheduled.

Results of the 2025 Assessors Election and 2026-27 Budget Referendum

     Click here for results of the 2025 Assessors Election
     Click here for results of the 2026-27 Budget Referendum

Thank you to all of the candidates for their willingness to serve,  to the volunteers who helped with the vote counting, and to the voters who made their voices heard.

Click here for results of the 2025 Charter Vote

June 2025 Special Budget Referendum on Civic Committee Funding 

The June 2025 Special Budget Referendum has concluded. The referendum passed by a vote of 242 to 30.
     Click Here  to see a copy of the referendum ballot.
     Click Here  to see a summary of the voting results.

Thanks to all who participated in this important village referendum


Welcome Our New Trustee!

Congratulations to Jeffrey Politis, who was confirmed by a vote of Arden residents as our newest village Trustee, succeeding Carl Falco. The vote was 229 to 41 in favor of confirmation.

Thanks to all who participated.

Town Assembly – June 23 2025

Election Results for Vacant Committee Positions

Civic Committee:  Harold Kalmus elected
Forest Committee:  Brooke Evans elected
Registration Committee:  Rachelle Zazzu elected

Click here to view vote totals.

Town Assembly – March 24 2025

Election for Committees, Officers, and Stewards Final Results

March-25-2025-TA.pdf

Final results for Schroeder Stewards election click here.2025 Election Results

New Arden Committee Members and Officers –results here. 2025 Committee Listing for Conveners

Assessors meet every 3rd Tuesday at 7:30 pm through June with fascinating discussions of land rent, ADU’s, lot sizes and factors.

ALL Assessor meetings are public, welcoming and you can learn about the process and procedures without having any of the responsibilities of being a member!

To find out more about meetings and the Assessor Board click here Arden Board of Assessors

The 2025 Assessors are: Denis O’Regan (convener), Deborah Ricard, Sachin Puranik, Brooke Bovard, Tom Wheeler, Shana Pinter and Simon Hamermesh.

Budget Results 2024 Click blue writing to read the results of the election.

In September 2024, the Ardens began service with Evergreen for Trash pick-up.

For information about their services click this link –

Evergreen Transition Flyer Click to view flyer

Tree Policy draft

The Civic and Forest Committees and the Arden Trust support these guidelines to better use resources and coordinate responsible tree work throughout the village. Any edits for the draft can be sent to forest@arden.delaware.gov.  View the draft Tree Policy here.

All Village of Arden ARPA Funds are now “Obligated”

For more information about ARPA check out this link.

Governance Task Force: Final Charter Recommendations and Proposed Ordinance Changes

Click here to see a copy of the Town Charter with changes recommended by the Governance Task Force

Click here to see the Governance Task Force links for recommended changes to ordinances

Schroeder Trust 

The link below is the Schroeder Trust that was approved at the June Town Assembly 2024 of the proposed trust for the remainder of the Schroeder bequest to the Village of Arden.  As been discussed in several town meetings, the Village agreed to set up a Trust for the bequest as part of a settlement for the Mill Race Road lawsuit filed against the Village.  This agreement was created with input from several open meetings and with guidance from the Village attorney.  Please review this the Trust and if you have comments or concerns, please refer them to the Chair of the Town Assembly, Jeffrey Politis, at ardenchair@arden.delaware.gov.

The June Town Assembly approved the Schroder Trust           Link here for Approved Arden Schroeder Trust – 06-24-2024

The Ardens Community and the Arden Club
Featured on WHYY TV’s “Movers & Makers”

Learn more about the Ardens and the Arden Club in this recently aired 30-minute program, Movers & Makers, produced by WHYY…
“The Village of Arden in Delaware was founded in 1900 by sculptor Frank Stephens and architect Will Price as a Single-Tax community. They wanted to create an Arts & Crafts colony that included people from all walks of life. Experience the early architecture, meet the talented artists and performers, and discover why so many people flock there every year to attend the Arden Fair.”
Click this link to watch.

Non-Discrimination Policy

In September, 2016, we presented and approved a non-discrimination policy.  At that time, a request was made to include “sex” in that policy.  The officers agree with that addition and the updated policy now reads:

The Village of Arden does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, residents, and visitors. The Village of Arden is an equal opportunity employer.

Village Racial Justice Pledge

In September 2020 the Town Assembly approved the following motion:

The Village of Arden acknowledges that society is in a moment of significant transformation. Therefore, the Village pledges its support for working towards racial justice and for solidarity with all people of color both within our community and in the larger culture. Approved amendment: This will be posted on the Town website and sent to our local, state and federal representatives.

About the Village of Arden, Delaware

The Village of Arden was founded in 1900 as a Single Tax community based on the economic philosophy of Henry George, as well as the Arts and Crafts movement of William Morris and the Garden City movement of Ebenezer Howard. It is still noted for its arts, crafts, music, and theater. Half the land is forests and greens, which are not taxed. As a “Tree City USA,” our tree canopy is 82.7%. The Village is on the National Register of Historic Places.

With around 250 households and 500 residents, Arden is the oldest and largest of the three villages known as The Ardens: Arden, Ardentown, and Ardencroft. The communal land in each village, such as the woods and greens, is owned by each municipality while the land leased out for dwellings is owned by a trust; that is, people own their houses but pay rent on their leaseholds in the form of taxes. Those taxes — land rent — cover village, county, and local school expenses and are assessed on the square footage of each leasehold. Each village has a separate municipal government.

The Village of Arden has a town-meeting form of government, defined in the Act to Reincorporate of July 29, 1996.
For more about the history of the three Ardens, visit the Arden Craft Shop Museum.
For a brief description of Arden government see “Arden: Here’s How It Works.”

If you use the printed Village of Arden Handbook as a reference to Arden government, click here to go to the Red Book Interactive Table of Contents for links to updates on every item in the Handbook. All the content of the Red Book, published in 1996, is on this website. Updates are now entered on the website.