Rieley seeks third Sussex County Council term
As John Rieley seeks his third term serving on Sussex County Council, he walks a fine line between protecting the rights of property owners and those of the broader community.
Republican Rieley is being challenged for his seat representing District 5 by Jill Hicks, a Democrat. Hicks co-founded the Sussex Preservation Coalition in 2022 with Jane Gruenebaum, who resigned her leadership position with the group when she began a successful campaign for a council seat in 2024. Hicks resigned as SPC president when she announced her own candidacy.
In the effort to hold onto his job, Rieley will face pressure from some who criticize the county’s handling of large housing developments. Such projects have caused congestion on roads, and burdened schools, emergency services, healthcare providers and the environment.
Rieley concedes the council could have done more, but heavy demand for housing taxed the county’s laws that guide growth. A housing boom gained steam during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing people to Sussex County who were looking to relocate to beach communities to retire or work from home.
The increased pace of development created housing sprawl into rural areas, filling farmland and replacing forests in areas where the county and state did not anticipate growth.
“The scenario has changed a bit because we saw such an uptick in growth,” Rieley said.
The council has also been hamstrung by zoning rules enacted in the 1970s that allow up to two houses per acre with no need for county approval, Rieley said.
Also, property rights are strong in Delaware, limiting how far the county could go in controlling development, he said.
“We operate within the context of property rights,” Rieley said. “An individual owns land and has a right to do what they want with their land.”
Critics say the county has not gone far enough to enact protections.
After three new council members who urged limits on development took office in January 2025, having unseated the incumbents, the council created a Land Use Reform Working Group to propose ways to redirect growth. The council has begun work to enact the first of those changes, and more are expected.
Rieley said the council had already been taking steps to improve development guidelines, such as stricter subdivision rules, and more changes were planned before the 2024 election.
“The new members have had an influence on the direction, but we saw a need for some of these changes,” he said.
The council reacted to certain developers’ practices, such as clear-cutting land, Rieley said. Council recently enacted rules to limit stormwater runoff from housing developments that harms the Inland Bays. There are plans for more rules to protect forests and other environmental features.
Rieley said he also supports proposed changes to a county affordable housing program that has drawn little interest, hoping incentives will encourage developers to pursue projects to fill the urgent need for those types of homes.
As one of two council representatives on the Sussex County Land Trust, Rieley noted the trust has protected thousands of acres of land, in large part due to the $6 million annual contribution from the county. The council this year also doubled its $1 million annual allocation for farmland preservation, Rieley said.
A native of Pittsford, a suburb of Rochester in upstate New York, Rieley received a bachelor’s degree in 1978 from Rochester Institute of Technology with a business major and economics minor.
He worked at several different companies, and met his future wife, Lou Ann, a Sussex County native, while working for Marriott outside Washington, D.C. They moved to her native Sussex County in 1980, raising a family of 12 children.
John Rieley said the county enacted its last comprehensive plan a couple of years before he joined the council, and he wants to remain a member as it drafts the next plan by the end of 2028.
The comprehensive plan guides development, and many of the most significant recommendations for change offered by the Land Use Reform Working Group will be incorporated in the next 10-year plan.
“That’s probably my biggest motivation to run again,” Rieley said.
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.
