No limits placed on Sussex land-use reform group

A group formed to help improve Sussex County’s land-use rules was told at its first meeting March 27, that it has free rein to propose changes to curb development. 

“There are no real guardrails here,” County Administrator Todd Lawson told the Sussex County Land Use Working Group. “[County council] really wants this to be a collaborative effort. They want ideas to be thrown out. They want you to come to a consensus on recommendations that they will consider.” 

Current rules – some dating back to the 1970s – proved ineffective in controlling growth during a housing boom in recent years. Developers filled farm fields and forests with expensive single-family homes as newcomers, many from other states, were drawn to beach communities and low taxes in Sussex County. A worldwide pandemic only accelerated the process, which shows no signs of slowing.

“Sussex County is experiencing the greatest amount of, particularly residential, development in the state, upwards of 80% of the development in a given year,” said David Edgell, director of the Office of State Planning Coordination and a member of the working group. “People want to be in Sussex County.”

Much of the development spread into rural areas, which conflicted with the state’s goals for growth in and around municipalities, but it was supported by the county’s rules that allowed two homes per acre by right. That was the path of least resistance for developers meeting the needs of many homebuyers.

However, it failed to address a growing need for affordable housing and other types of homes, driving up the cost of houses, pricing many locals out of the market and sowing some resentment for the newcomers changing the landscape.

Other consequences of growth were traffic congestion, crowded school and doctors offices, overwhelmed emergency services and environmental damage. The backlash came in the fall elections, when three challengers calling for change unseated incumbents, taking a majority on the five-member council.  

“It’s only March, the end of March, and here we are with a new working group,” Lawson said. “I think that’s a direct result of three new members and some new direction, new philosophies and new ideas that they want to see generated.”

The stated goal of the working group is to create smarter, sustainable development to ensure growth is supported by infrastructure, create affordable housing, preserve farmland and natural resources, and prevent low-density uncoordinated sprawl. Current laws have had the opposite effect, many of the working group’s members said.

Their schedule calls for drafting recommendations during the second quarter of the year and finalizing and presenting those recommendations to council during the third quarter. Council plans to prioritize suggestions and hold public hearings during the fourth quarter as it creates ordinances and updates the county comprehensive land-use plan.

Working group meetings are set for Thursdays, April 10, May 1 and 29, June 12 and July 10, but others are likely to be added.

The working group began its work March 27, with a lengthy discussion about problems created by development and general ideas about how to improve things. Several said housing options need to be expanded.   

Jon Horner, the general counsel for Schell Brothers and Ocean Atlantic Companies who represents the Home Builders Association of Delaware on the working group, said the county law allowing up to two houses per acre by right contributed to current building patterns and sprawl.

“And we’ve seen, that caused the proliferation of single-family homes and only single-family homes,” Horner said. “We’ve seen that strain our infrastructure because we’re having projects being developed in far-flung areas of the county where development was never contemplated or thought about. With the current AR-1 zoning being everywhere, it’s made it harder to consider different product types because of various reasons.”

Mike Riemann, a working group representative of the American Council of Engineering Companies and president of Home Builders Association of Delaware, agreed the rules contribute to current development patterns.

“It is a lot easier – and I’m speaking as an engineer who has to process these projects and stand in front of boards and commissions and try to get these things approved – it is much easier to develop a project away from people and away from infrastructure than it is to develop it where there are people and where there is infrastructure,” Riemann said. “Until we remedy that fundamental conflict, you’re going to continue to see what we currently see.”

Other members spoke about other concerns, such as creating affordable housing and preserving farmland 

“One of the other overarching issues here is that we have outpaced what the infrastructure can handle,” said Sussex Preservation Coalition President Jill Hicks. “Whether it’s schools, healthcare, roads, we have outpaced that, and in the case of affordable housing, it’s at a crisis point. I think we have to put in responsible land-use ordinances. I think we have to do a better job coordinating when and where that growth is going to happen.”