County panel debates need for public input on development regs
The issue of how much public input is appropriate for proposed housing projects was debated at the May 1 meeting of Sussex County’s Land Use Reform Working Group.
Sussex County Council created the 10-member panel to suggest changes to development rules in response to an upheaval resulting from the burden on roads, schools, healthcare providers and the environment in the fastest-growing county in the state.
While the topic of the day was affordable and workforce housing, conversation quickly and repeatedly turned to the related topic of whether public hearings should be required for development projects, and if they will increase costs, delay work and make housing less affordable.
Jon Horner, a Home Builders Association of Delaware representative and general counsel for Schell Brothers and Ocean Atlantic Companies, and Mike Riemann, an American Council of Engineering Companies representative and home builders group president, said hearings unreasonably complicate and can scuttle an approval process.
Riemann also said he believes hearings are not necessary for individual development plans because the public had input when the county comprehensive plan and zoning laws that govern those projects were established.
Horner said by-rights projects, also known as permitted uses, are consistent with local regulations, and municipalities cannot arbitrarily reject them.
Jamie Whitehouse, director of the county Planning & Zoning Office, noted such projects go through a design-review process, which requires public hearings. Conditional-use approvals and zoning-change requests also require hearings before county approval is granted.
Horner said the public hearing process can add two years to the approval process and can increase costs to developers or kill projects. Jill Hicks, Sussex Preservation Coalition president, said she doubted hearings add so much time to the process.
The exchange touched off the discussion about whether hearings should be required.
“There’s tremendous academic research on this, the impacts of public hearings on by-rights projects and the negative impacts they have on housing affordability and economic impact, to the tune of billions of dollars,” Horner said. “There is ample time for public comment when codes are developed.”
When projects are designed to comply with local codes, there is not a need to subject them to public hearings, he said.
“If you’re going for anything other than a minor subdivision, all of a sudden your neighbors get a right to weigh in on a by-rights approval process, where they really can’t say anything to stop it,” Horner said. “They can just state things that might lead to conditions which make a project not happen.”
That has consequences on what kinds of houses can be built in the county, he said.
“They’ve had tremendous impact on housing affordability and housing availability,” Horner said. “There’s tons of research on the negative impacts of this. ”
Hicks said public hearings educate the public and build public confidence.
“By taking the public hearing out of the process, it destroys public trust,” Hicks said.
Horner suggested a 30-day public comment period. Mark Luszcz, acting chief engineer for Delaware Department of Transportation's Division of Transportation Solutions, noted that his agency has a similar process.
Horner suggested the current review process that includes public hearings might be appropriate in rural areas where the state discourages development.
Members of the group suggested changes in county law to allow denser developments and increase the 42-foot building height limit to create cheaper housing options. Some want to expedite affordable housing approvals, and allow buildings with two and more units as a permitted use in areas that are already densely developed.
David Edgell, director of the Office of State Planning Coordination, urged the group to push for growth closer to areas that are already developed to reduce sprawl that is causing many problems in the county.
“All of those changes should, in theory, make it easier and cheaper and quicker to build, and then the developers can pass those cost savings on to the eventual occupant, whether it’s a renter or a homeowner,” Del Collo said about many of the suggestions.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
