Many development costs are overlooked

A recent commentary in the Cape Gazette stressed the economic benefits of Cool Spring Crossing, its affordable housing and the developer’s contributions to road improvements as reasons for approval. Overlooked were the costs of Cool Spring Crossing – and there are many.

Sussex County is in an enviable position. It can say yes to development after development, reap the revenue benefits from its share of the real estate transfer tax and bear few of the infrastructure costs. 

The state pays for building and maintaining the roads, not the county. The state pays for the lion’s share of police expenses. The state and the school districts pay for school construction and the annual costs of education. The state pays a substantial portion of emergency services. Volunteer fire departments (with help from the state, county and some towns) pay for fire and ambulance services. The county provides sewer and water, but not exclusively. Artesian, a private company, is aggressively expanding these services in some areas. 

Taxpayers foot the bill for these state costs. Growth seems like a no-brainer to county officials; it comes at very little cost to them, as they proudly point to a long record of maintaining low property taxes. But make no mistake, residents pay for the county’s decisions: in state taxes and in school taxes, which must go up to cover the higher costs.

Specifically, by more than doubling traffic on Route 9, Cool Spring Crossing will require major road improvements that will not be paid for by the developer. And Cape Henlopen School District will need to add space to accommodate 450 to 550 students. And fire departments in Milton and Lewes will need to provide coverage for 1,922 new residential units as well as 450,000 square feet of commercial space with no guarantee that contributions made by the Cool Spring Crossing developer or future residents and tenants will cover the additional costs. 

At no point in the review process for new developments either at the state or local level does anyone estimate the total costs of a proposal. Emphasis is placed almost exclusively on the benefits. This misrepresents reality. 

There are also intangible costs, things harder to put a price tag on. Growth increases demand for medical services in an area that is already underserved. What is the value of residents’ time in the delays experienced in making routine, let alone specialist, appointments, not to mention more time spent in waiting rooms? What is the cost of delays in getting diagnosed and treated for serious illnesses? 

Promises of a relaxed, beach-centered lifestyle are evaporating before our eyes. Delays, stress and frustration grow on county roads not built to handle the volume of today’s, let alone tomorrow’s traffic. Major arteries like Route 9 and Route 24 increasingly resemble Route 1. Congestion endangers residents’ health and safety. We cannot expect that EMTs will magically avoid traffic delays in responding to calls and then in transporting patients to emergency centers. 

Cool Spring Crossing has other important implications for the future. If a developer’s big promises can win the day, other developers will try to do the same thing in places just outside the designated growth areas: by including a token percentage of total residential units as affordable housing in order to win approval (9% at Cool Spring Crossing); by building town-sized developments without town-supporting services like police and fire; by working for years to erode the rules that all developers are supposed to follow – the future land-use map; by manipulating the rules to their advantage – introducing two proposals at the same time, one by right and the other requiring approval.

Yes, supporters of Cool Spring Crossing can point to benefits, but Sussex County Council members need to look hard at the full picture of costs as well as benefits. Sussex taxpayers still bear the costs.   

Don’t be fooled. Cool Spring Crossing’s costs are substantial. Demand that the county weigh them even if they do not directly pay for them. Tax dollars paid by the state are now treated as though they are free money. But they’re not. It’s your money and the county needs to recognize that. Start with Cool Spring Crossing.