The following letter was sent to Sen. Russ Huxtable, D-Lewes, with a copy provided to the Cape Gazette for publication. 

I am writing in reference to Senate Bill 23. As stated, it is an act to amend Title 9, Title 22 and Title 29 of the Delaware Code relating to housing supply and housing affordability. I find this bill deeply flawed, as proposed, and would urge you to reconsider your stance on this matter. 

At the root of these flaws is the county or municipality's ability to subvert public hearings and notices related to affordable housing development and the rezoning of said lands. In a county overrun by development, it is shocking to imagine zoning maps could be changed administratively without public input. As a resident of the City of Lewes, I would be astonished to have city administrators rezone land without public notice. Yet, this is the one of the bill’s primary goals. Undemocratic is the word that best describes it. 

The bill requires all counties and municipalities with more than 2,000 residents to ensure 20% of the housing stock is affordable. For Lewes, this can only mean one thing: high-density housing. Lewes is relatively small in size and lacks suitable space to accommodate a lower-density form of affordable housing. So, the city will be required to develop higher and tighter on smaller tracts. For a city that prides itself on its historical charm and quaintness, this type of housing is not in keeping with its character. 

SB 23 also contains explicit wording to encourage municipalities to abandon basic and commonsense restraints on development to achieve higher affordable housing stock. This includes increasing maximum permitted residential density, reducing setbacks, maximizing lot coverage, scrapping open-space requirements and replacing conditional reviews of development application with by-right administrative reviews. This type of language would produce severe environmental impacts and sounds like the opposite of public sentiment. 

The driver behind this bill is the state's control of funding. If a county or municipality fails to provide and/or execute a comprehensive plan in accordance with the SB 23, the state will withhold financial assistance or infrastructure improvements. Holding state tax dollars hostage over a flawed bill like this seems unreasonable and out of touch. I implore you to go back to the drawing board on this matter. This bill has all the designs of special-interest parties. It is your duty as an elected official to represent the people of your constituency. I believe you are doing the people a great disservice by introducing SB 23.