County priorities include affordable housing, environmental protections
Improving a rarely used affordable rental housing program, environmental protections, tweaking subdivision rules and facilitating more housing types are among short-term goals set Jan. 27 by Sussex County Council.
The council is moving ahead with many of the 20 recommendations of the land-use reform working group it formed early last year to study ways to redirect booming housing developments that have spread into rural areas.
Some other suggestions will be considered as the county begins work this summer on drafting its next 10-year comprehensive plan, which is due by the end of 2028.
While council members did not vote on any of the suggestions, none objected when County Administrator Todd Lawson asked if there was opposition. He said afterward that 12 of the recommendations discussed at length at the meeting will move forward quickly.
Draft ordinances will be subject to public hearings before the planning & zoning commission and county council before final decisions by council.
Expected to be among them are forest and open space protections, naturalized landscape requirements and revised subdivision rules, Lawson said.
Another goal is to amend bulk standards. These rules set building setback distances from property boundaries and other lot dimensions. A notable possible change is increasing the maximum heights for mixed-use and multifamily buildings to 60 feet, up from the current 42-foot limit. Longer buildings could also be allowed, which should promote more varied designs.
The Sussex County Rental Program has drawn little interest over the years, and the council is trying to find ways to make it economically feasible for developers to use it to help fill the dire need for affordable housing.
The council plans to define missing middle housing, which means housing types lacking in the county. That will be used later to help draft rules to promote construction of those types of homes, Lawson said.
He said lack of rules for such housing makes it more complicated for a developer to gain approval of anything other than traditional housing types.
Changing rules for density of housing developments and zoning are among the more complicated regulations that will be considered during the comprehensive plan update, Lawson said.
Cluster subdivisions and residential planned communities would no longer be allowed in rural areas under the suggested changes. Standard subdivisions would still be permitted, which allow 20,000-square-foot lots with sewer service or three-quarter-acre lots without sewers.
Councilman Matt Lloyd said he wants to ease rules in growth areas to encourage development there and away from rural areas.
“My mantra lately has been, take the handcuffs off,” Lloyd said.
Councilwoman Jane Gruenebaum said she does not oppose growth but worries about rules becoming too lax.
Councilmen Lloyd and Steve McCarron said they campaigned on the need for affordable housing.
McCarron said the county needs to encourage construction of affordable housing on the east side of the county where most jobs are located. It would benefit current local residents, he said.
Lloyd said only 75 units were built under the county rental program over 10 years, demonstrating that it is not working for developers.
Council President Doug Hudson said among the groups that need affordable housing are young people looking to buy their first homes and healthcare employees who need a reasonable commute to get to work.
A state task force directed counties and municipalities to amend their rules to make affordable housing more feasible, and the working group made the same recommendation.
Gruenebaum urged caution about possible unintended consequences of decisions the county is considering.
“Increasing density in some areas is just going to add to our congestion woes, whether we’re talking about traffic congestion, school congestion, healthcare congestion,” she said. “It’s a word that applies to a lot of different infrastructure issues.”
“We are talking about density to solve the affordability crisis,” McCarron said.
Gruenebaum said environmental concerns should be a priority in decisions.
“We lie in an extraordinarily environmentally fragile area that we’ve done a lot to weaken,” she said. “It will come back to haunt us, it will come back to bite us, everyone has told us, from [Delaware Center for the Inland Bays Executive Director] Christophe [Tulou] to other experts.”
After the meeting, Lawson said if rules changes cause unintended negative consequences, council can revise them.
“We want to keep things moving forward,” said Vince Robertson, a county attorney. “We don’t want to lose momentum on this after the working group spent so much time.”
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.
