Sussex County Council introduces six rules to limit housing growth
Six proposed rule changes stemming from Sussex County Land-Use Reform Working Group recommendations to limit and improve housing development were introduced March 10.
County Administrator Todd Lawson said the drafts continued to change in recent days.
The proposals involve:
- The Sussex County Rental Program
- Open-space requirements
- Preliminary plat requirements, interconnectivity and superior design
- Subdivisions in rural areas and growth areas
- Forest preservation
- New code definitions.
All were introduced by Sussex County Council, with the exception of the forest preservation rules. Those are being reviewed by the state forester and will be submitted for consideration by council when they are complete, said Vince Robertson, an assistant county attorney.
The wording of the proposals is available on the county website, sussexcountyde.gov, Robertson said.
Public hearings before the planning & zoning commission and county council will be scheduled to accept comments as final drafts of the rules are created and finalized before votes by council.
The working group, created early last year by council, approved 20 recommendations in September. Those that could be enacted more quickly were drafted by county staff into the current six proposals.
“What we’ve done is start putting them into ordinance form to get this process started,” Robertson said.
One of the most significant changes would be barring cluster subdivisions with 7,500-square-foot lots on central sewers in rural areas. This is intended to help reduce suburban housing sprawl that has been consuming farmland and forests in recent decades, burdening rural roads, emergency services, schools, healthcare providers and the environment.
The subdivision rules would not affect standard subdivisions or cluster subdivisions on septic systems, which require larger lots, Robertson said.
Sussex County Rental Program criteria would be adjusted to set the rent to 60% of the area median income, up from 50%, and the number of program units in a rental program project was decreased to 15%, down from the current 25% of total units. Setbacks and open-space requirements were also eased.
Council officials had said there was little interest in the program from developers, despite the significant need for affordable housing in the county. The suggested changes would help make affordable housing projects financially feasible for developers.
Proposed open-space requirements would be set at a minimum of 30% in growth areas and 50% in rural areas, another attempt to shift development near areas where it already exists.
Superior design requirements involve broad consideration of a development’s environment and design, and those related to open space would be expanded from cluster subdivisions to include all subdivisions.
Cluster subdivisions with 7,500-square-foot lots in rural areas would be eliminated in the county comprehensive plan’s future land-use map.
Councilwoman Jane Gruenebaum has suggested the county pause review of development proposals that have not progressed far in the approval process while the six draft county ordinances are decided.
“The attempt there is to prevent a land rush, so to speak,” Councilman John Rieley said.
Robertson said he anticipates staff will have a proposal to accomplish that goal available at the council’s next meeting Tuesday, March 17.
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.
