Sussex Housing Group supports Cool Spring Crossing

Sussex Housing Group, a membership of more than 80 organizations and more than 200 individuals, which regularly advocates for affordable housing solutions across Sussex County, would like to publicly thank Sussex County Council members Steve McCarron, Matt Lloyd and Doug Hudson for voting to approve the rezoning necessary for Capano Management’s Belle Mead mixed-use development. The developer has publicly pledged to set aside 15% of its total units for those earning 80% of the area median income or less. SHG urges council to also vote to approve the rezoning needed for the Carl M. Freeman Companies’ Cool Springs Crossing, which will also include an affordable housing set-aside. Both these projects align well with the county’s 2018 comprehensive plan, which includes priorities such as coordinating land use with infrastructure, protecting open space and natural resources, and creating housing options for residents across income levels. 

Sussex County is facing dual crises: an increase in homelessness and a decrease in affordable housing. This is evidenced by both Delaware State Housing Authority’s 2023 Housing Needs Assessment and Delaware’s 2024 and 2025 Point in Time counts. DSHA’s HNA indicated that Sussex has a shortage of more than 2,600 affordable rental units for renters with incomes 50% or less of AMI. To address this, the county not only needs to maintain its current affordable units, but also add units by 2030 to accommodate population growth.  

The 2024 PIT count indicated a 9% increase in Delaware homelessness, and the 2025 PIT indicated a 16% increase over that. These are the highest numbers on record (excluding the COVID years). Data from 2022 indicated that over 1-in-3, or roughly 34%, of Delaware's homeless population was in Sussex County. In recent years, homelessness in Georgetown has become increasingly visible. As of 2025, estimates from the Pew Research Center suggest that as many as 242 people are experiencing homelessness in Georgetown, representing nearly 2% of the town’s population. In late 2025, Georgetown also approved an ordinance to allow for the building of a tiny-home community that would present housing options for those earning 40% to 70% AMI. 

In the 2018 comp plan, Sussex County Council committed to implementing zoning and land-use reforms to expand housing options, as well as increase access and choice for its residents, but has approved few projects that are suitable for workforce housing renters earning between 50% and 80% of AMI, such as teachers, firefighters, technicians, etc. It has added no real options for the lowest-income earners, those earning less than 50% of AMI such as retail, hospitality, poultry workers, home health aides, childcare providers and other service-based workers who are desperately needed on the eastern side of the county. Many employers have testified at county council, most notably Beebe Healthcare president and CEO Dr. David Tam, that the lack of affordable housing on the eastern side of the county makes employee retention increasingly difficult.  

To be fair, Sussex County Council has not approved many affordable housing projects, despite its comprehensive plan goals, due to intense local opposition and NIMBYism from some county residents, who rightly or wrongly, often cite excessive traffic, school overcrowding and strained infrastructure as reasons they are opposed. Additionally, restrictive zoning favors large-lot, single-family homes, making dense, affordable, multifamily projects hard to approve. Sooner or later, county leaders will have to make some difficult choices.

The dual crises of decreased affordable housing and increased homelessness are projected to get worse if we continue to do nothing. This is why SHG urges county council to also approve Freeman’s Cool Spring Crossing development. The truth is that even if both developments are greenlighted and create some affordable workforce housing units, they likely won’t benefit our lowest-income earners, those earning 50% or less of AMI who are also considered cost burdened, meaning they are paying more than 30% of their total income on housing-related costs. The dual crises are real, and the choices for Sussex County Council aren’t going to get any easier as they worsen. Sussex Housing Group would like to remind council members and the public that the time to act is now. Let’s start by approving Cool Spring Crossing.