Milton committee debates state involvement in affordable housing

A Milton ad hoc committee on affordable housing is still gathering information in preparation for a report to be delivered to town council in November, but a proposed bill that would allow for accessory dwelling units without municipal input, has become a cause for concern.

Increasing the amount of affordable housing is part of Milton’s comprehensive development plan. Mayor John Collier assembled the committee to draft a recommendation that will enable town council to move forward with some sort of regulations on affordable housing. So far, the committee, chaired by Planning and Zoning Commissioner Lynn Ekelund, has heard presentations by officials from Delaware State Housing Authority and Sussex County on their versions of affordable housing bills. 

While the committee will provide the ideas and recommendations, Collier and Ekelund both said the preference is for council to draft a standalone ordinance on affordable housing, not unlike what the county has. Additional presentations are expected from developers and nonprofits.  

Coloring the committee’s discussions at its May 9 meeting was the matter of Senate Bill 23, a measure sponsored by Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes, that is aimed at both increasing housing stock and creating more opportunities for affordable housing.

Under the bill, homebuilders would be able to erect one accessory dwelling unit – such as garage apartments or a carriage house – by right without having to seek permits or hold public hearings. Local governments would not be able to require parking, assess impact fees or make any design requirements of the accessory dwelling unit.

While both Ekelund and Collier think the idea is good, as accessory dwelling units are low-hanging fruit that can increase affordable housing, the devil is in details. The bill currently has not yet made it out of committee.

“Some of the current proposals regarding zoning by right concern me, as they would effectively strip away rights granted to municipalities,” Collier said. “I think accessory dwelling units are a viable option; I just think we have to be careful about it.”

Another concern for the committee is communities and neighborhoods within Milton that have restrictive covenants or have building restrictions, such as in the historic district.

Committee member Robert Gray said, “I still don’t have a good concept of what we can do within the town. Given that we have covenant communities, given that we have historical restrictions, what is available?”

Milton is getting its first taste of affordable housing development after town council approved a conditional-use permit May 6 to allow Milton Attainable Housing LLC to increase the number of units from 24 to 30, with those units being designated as affordable housing at its Cypress Grove development on Route 16.

The plan is to take one of the 24-unit buildings and convert six three-bedroom units, one on each floor, into 12 one-bedroom units, giving the building 30 units. The change would increase Cypress Grove’s total number of units from 240 to 246, with a total of 36 units to be designated as workforce housing. 

The development of affordable/workforce units allows Cypress Grove to be eligible for state funding through the Delaware State Housing Authority’s Mixed Income Market Fund, which the state established using $7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. The fund is intended to encourage developers to offer affordable housing units by providing financing for the development of those units. For state funding, affordable/workforce housing is defined as a unit priced at 65% of area median income. A developer must commit to having at least five affordable units with a maximum of 15% of the units being affordable. For doing so, developers would be able to receive financing of up to $125,000 per one-bedroom unit, $135,000 per two-bedroom unit and $150,000 per three-bedroom unit. 

While there is still a lot of work to be done, Collier said at the end of the day, drafting an ordinance is going to require compromise from all sides. 

“Every level of involvement is trying to produce revenue,” he said. “It just compounds with the addition of each layer. The only way I see for this endeavor to succeed is concessions must be made at every level. No one entity can absorb all of them. Therefore it will take a significant amount of work and thought to achieve the concept and still have parity among all those involved."