I have been following your reporting and various letters to the editor regarding the recent proposal by Sussex County Councilman Matt Lloyd for a moratorium on new building projects. I feel I must weigh in and provide my perspective regarding this important issue.
I moved here full time about three years ago after being a lifelong resident of Lancaster County, Pa. I experienced a similar population and building explosion there during the mid-1980s and into the 1990s. I do not believe the growth experienced in Lancaster County has made quality of life better there.
I have the perspective of a retired police lieutenant from a township which was the fastest-growing municipality in the entire commonwealth during that growth period. From the time I was hired in 1981 until I retired in 2014, our police department had to triple in size to deal with increased service demands.
More commercial/residential building projects, more vehicular traffic on roadways and increased demand on other infrastructure does not equate to a better quality of life for the citizens who reside there. Additionally, increased demands on law enforcement to deal with increased crime and other public safety services does nothing to improve quality of life for those same citizens.
Do you know who benefits from exploding growth? Developers, real estate, construction and certain other service industries stand to become very wealthy at everyone else’s expense. I do not begrudge those people making a living. However, most of those industries can make a decent living servicing the existing homes in Sussex County. We do not need people squeezing every cent out of precious undeveloped land and negatively impacting quality of life for the rest of us.
Please also note, I did not contribute to the new development problem when I moved here. I bought a home originally built in the 1950s, and we paid contractors to come in and improve our residence. We purchased new appliances and furniture to make things better. So, I don’t buy one person’s recent statement regarding putting builders and others out of business with a moratorium on new construction.
I support Matt Lloyd’s efforts to slow down the destruction of the way of life we all enjoy while residing here, and institute a more responsible and commonsense approach to addressing such important quality-of-life issues for those living in Sussex County.
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