Growth prompts Selbyville’s proposed changes to town council

Why Should Delaware Care?
Selbyville is the latest small town in Delaware to push for a charter change in response to growth and the need for fair representation. A new state bill would give the Sussex County town the ability to establish voting districts for the first time in its history.

Selbyville is growing rapidly, with recent annexations into newly developed neighborhoods that sit largely to its east. 

With that growth, municipal leaders say that new residents may not be equally represented by an elected council made up of officials who largely live in older parts of town.

In response, they asked their state legislator to propose a bill that would allow them to remake how the town council is formed, changing it from a body of four people who each represent the entire town, to one that features four distinct districts that each are represented by one council member.  

Last month, Senate Minority Leader Gerald Hocker answered their call and sponsored a bill that proposes to create four council districts. 

He noted that a similar change had been proposed in 2022, but had faced opposition from what he called “outside organizations.” In that proposal, new councilmembers would have represented four different districts, but would have been elected to those positions by the entire town. 

The small town, which has deep roots in agriculture, sits about 11 miles west of Delaware’s beaches in Sussex County and just north of the state line with Maryland. Its growth from commercial and residential developments in recent years have occurred largely because of its proximity to the ocean.

In order to change its council’s structure in response to the growth, the town must first request that the state legislature authorize an amendment to the town charter, according to Delaware law.  

Under Hocker’s bill, the new council districts must have nearly equal populations and be drawn based on the most recent U.S. Census data. If passed, the town would have until Jan. 1, 2026, to establish the districts and be required to update the boundaries within two years of every new census data release.

Each district will be represented by one council member, who must be a resident of that district. 

Council members will be nominated and elected solely by residents within their respective districts. Meanwhile, the mayor will continue to serve as an at-large representative for the entire town.

The state bill has been referred to the Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee for review.

A meeting time for the committee has not yet been scheduled, but Town Administrator Stacey Long expects the changes to be in place for the March 2026 town council election.