On Nov. 4, Sussex County Council will hold a public hearing on Cool Spring Crossing, a development on Route 9, midway between Lewes and Georgetown. That is also 365 days since the last election, Nov. 5, 2024, when voters completed a major rebuild of Sussex County Council. Three incumbents lost their seats. Each new member’s campaign addressed widespread public dissatisfaction with the pace and direction of development in the county.
Has changing the decision makers changed the results? So far, the answer is unclear.
After 10 meetings, the Sussex County Land-Use Reform Working Group produced 20 recommendations. Next steps remain unclear, so the work is incomplete.
Council has sought to stabilize funding for schools and volunteer fire departments, an unfinished but promising effort.
Council now confronts three development proposals in sensitive areas that have triggered strong public objections. Belle Mead and Atlantic Fields are on busy Route 24, and Cool Spring Crossing on Route 9. Traffic is a major issue for each.
Once completed, Cool Spring will generate 33,359 additional vehicle trips per day, nearly two-thirds of which come from the 450,000 square feet of non-residential and commercial space located on Route 9. With 1,922 residential units and a projected 5,000 to 6,000 residents, Cool Spring would become the fourth-largest town in Sussex if incorporated.
To entice support, the developer has promised a YMCA, a supermarket, medical offices, a junior college, multiple restaurants and shops, a convenience store/gas station and the vision of a self-contained community. A total of 175 rental units would be affordable for persons in service jobs, but another 525 units, rented at market rate, would not.
Cool Spring is not located in a designated growth area where the state plans future infrastructure spending (roads, schools, police, EMS). That was true under the last county comprehensive plan (2018) and remains true today as reflected in the 2025 draft of state investment strategies.
The county should stop approving development in areas where the state discourages it. Cool Spring is likely to become the first of many such efforts to locate high-density projects just outside growth areas.
Worsening congestion on Route 9 when there is no hint of a solution would be irresponsible. Council should know by now: Do not assume that if they build it, the roads will follow.
All of Sussex, indeed most of Delaware, is watching to see whether elections matter.
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