Milton council sends workforce housing report to planners

Milton Town Council, by unanimous vote, elected to send an 11-page report on workforce/affordable housing to the planning and zoning commission to develop the report’s findings into an advisory report and ordinance.

The planners will begin discussions of the report at their regular meeting set for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 18, at Cannery Village clubhouse. 

Town council received the report at its Feb. 3 meeting, and council members were happy with the result, which came after nearly a year’s worth of work by an ad hoc committee set up to examine ways to improve Milton’s stock of workforce and affordable housing.

Mayor John Collier, who served as the town staff member working with the committee, said, “I’m really pleased and proud of this thing because of the work and effort involved in this. It just blows me away when the community comes together in a positive fashion and crafts something that is sorely needed, not just in this community, but it's a problem throughout the country.”

While plans for affordable housing are part of Milton’s comprehensive development plan, Collier said one of the biggest issues he hears from constituents is how their children are finishing college and want to come home, but can’t find a house of their own they can afford.

“This has been a community that’s been based around families, so I really like this idea,” Collier said. 

The report’s centerpiece is eight recommendations for improving affordable/workforce housing in Milton, along with implementation strategies and how the committee arrived at its conclusions.

Councilwoman Randi Meredith said of the report, “This is so thorough. There are eight really solid recommendations here.” 

Those eight recommendations are:

• Working with nonprofit housing developers to build new units on available individual lots

• Requiring developers who seek to annex or rezone property to provide a certain percentage of affordable units

• Preparing an ordinance to allow for accessory dwelling units in residential areas

• Requiring affordable housing in developments with large-parcel development district overlays

• Working with nonprofit developers to facilitate new affordable units in newly annexed communities

• Providing information at town hall on Sussex County block grants

• Encouraging more mixed-use zoning in the town’s future land-use map

• Reviewing the zoning code to find ways to reduce restrictions that increase development costs, such as setbacks, parking regulations and minimum lot size.

“The need for affordable/workforce housing in Milton is real and it is growing,” the report says. “Proximity to the beach and low real estate taxes have attracted higher-income households, retirees and a growing seasonal use of our available housing stock.”

As Milton’s new construction has served primarily high-income retirees and vacationers, the average price of a newly constructed home in Milton has grown to range from $395,000 to $659,000. 

“There are no incentives for developers to build affordable/workforce housing. Essential workers like teachers, police officers and municipal employees, who do not qualify for subsidized housing programs, cannot afford to live here,” the report said.

To change that, the report states the town needs to find a way to work with developers and nonprofits to provide affordable/workforce housing. Among the ways the report suggests to do that is to allow for accessory dwelling units, essentially secondary housing that is located on the lot of a larger, primary home. Accessory dwelling units do not include duplexes or tourist homes, and, the report says, can help homeowners offset costs, allow for multigenerational living arrangements in a more private and independent setting, and offer long-term residency. 

The report says the town could offer incentives to attract developers to construct workforce housing on six large, but nonsubdivided, lots through waiving fees, increasing housing density and relaxing code restrictions. Within town, the report says there are 55 empty, buildable lots that could offer space for new, affordable units. 

The ad hoc committee was formed by town council resolution in January 2024 and began holding meetings in February with a goal of shaping policy around affordable housing. The committee held monthly meetings with presentations by state and county housing officials, and for-profit and nonprofit developers to get varying perspectives on ways new affordable housing can be created.