This is the government website of the Village of Arden, Delaware, U.S.A.
Here you can access the major governing documents of the Village, ordinances, minutes of Town Meetings, information about the Standing Committees, government contacts, permits, voting information and election records, and more. The site is maintained by the Town Secretary. Please contact the Secretary if you cannot find the information you need, if links are not working, or information is outdated.
Committee & Officer Election Results
Click this link: March 22 Election Results to see the results of the Election of Committees and Officers held at the Town Meeting on March 22. Many thanks to all the candidates for your willingness to serve our community. Thanks also to Barbara Henry, Danny Schweers and Larry Walker, who assisted the committee in counting votes on March 25. And thank you to everyone who voted, either by Absentee ballot or by our fairly confusing method of in-person voting at a virtual meeting.
The complete list of committees and officers, including terms of office and committee contact information, can be found in the sidebar under Committee & Officer List .
— Cecilia Vore, chair, Registration Committee
Coronavirus Updates
Please see the items in the sidebar for information about the upcoming town meeting June 28. Also, please check this website for any Arden-specific updates.
Here are some links to keep updated with the Ardens, the state, and the national situation:
• Click here to learn more about the State of Delaware’s response to COVID-19.
• For more information, go to either the Delaware Division of Public Health’s website – https://dhss.delaware.gov/
•The Buzz Ware Village Center is fully open again! See their website for current events space usage policy.
• Activities are happening at the Arden Club. See their website for the latest news. Watch the Arden Page for the latest ACRA events.
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.
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 73%. 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 Craftshop 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.