Why Should Delaware Care?
Housing costs have increased significantly in Delaware in recent years, leading to strained budgets, longer commutes and an increase in the homeless population. This year, lawmakers tried to address this issue by mandating local zoning reforms and easing road upgrade rules. But local officials say at least one of the new laws is also stifling public participation.
The Sussex County Council railed against Delaware’s new affordable housing law at its meeting Tuesday, saying it strips residents of their ability to comment on new housing development projects
For about an hour during the meeting, the council members collectively lamented what they described as state officials trampling their rights to regulate land use.
Sussex County Councilman John Rieley said the new law would lead to state workers “in basement offices in Dover determining planning and zoning questions in the rest of the state.”
Councilwoman Jane Gruenebaum called the law’s apparent removal of public hearings “insidious.”
“To treat them as NIMBYism moments is, to me, an incredible disservice, misunderstanding and a cynical, misleading statement about what public hearings do,” she said.
The meeting came about two weeks after the county canceled public hearings for two proposed housing developments in response to the new state law.
County officials also said earlier this month they would “pause” public hearings for major subdivision proposals broadly, until they can develop a new approval process in line with the controversial state law.
Introduced in April by Sen. Russ Huxtable (D-Lewes), the newly signed Senate Bill 23 — or “the Housing for Every Delawarean Act” — requires most localities to allow more townhomes, apartments and other dense types of housing in their jurisdictions, as well as adopt several other measures designed to make homes more affordable.
It does so by reforming state requirements for comprehensive plans — which are roadmaps for future growth the state requires counties and municipalities to update every 10 years.
The new law also aims to speed up the development process by removing public hearings for some proposals that already comply with local land use rules at the site.
That provision has drawn much ire from the Sussex County Council. Some also argue it will not improve Delaware’s shortage of affordable homes.
In an interview Wednesday, Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson said the section of the new law that exempts certain projects from public hearings does not include an affordability requirement. As a result, Lawson argued, developers will continue to build big, pricey homes in southern Delaware, but with the benefit of no public hearings.
Lawson said that no developer in Sussex County has built a cluster subdivision with affordable housing within it in recent history.
“And if you’re a developer that wants to make a profit, you’re going to build homes that get you the greatest amount of profit,” Lawson said. ”Unless they’re required to build affordable housing, they’re going to continue that model.”
When fielding questions from council members during Tuesday’s meeting, Lawson argued that public hearings help build a public record, which is used to approve, deny, and appeal decisions.
“You hear our attorneys all the time reflect on the public record,” Lawson said. “Where does that now lie without a public hearing?”
Also taking questions from the council was Sussex County’s assistant attorney, Vince Robertson, who listed a number of recent market-rate subdivisions, totaling more than 3,000 lots, that would not have had public hearings had Senate Bill 23 been law when they were proposed.
“There’s not one component of those subdivisions that meets workforce housing, meets affordable housing, meets any of the components of this bill,” Robertson said.
In a statement, Delaware Senate Democrats spokeswoman Sarah Fulton said the legislative intent of Senate Bill 23 is clear. It is to increase the number of affordable homes in Delaware, she said.
“We are now waiting on formal guidance from the Meyer administration about the timing and next steps for implementation,” she said.
A 2023 study conducted by the Delaware State Housing Authority found that Delaware was short almost 20,000 rental units for households that earn less than half the region’s median income. The problem is most acute in Sussex County where a surging retiree population has caused home prices to balloon.
Lawson told Spotlight Delaware that Sussex County has taken steps to address affordability, including changing the Sussex County Rental Program to eliminate the public hearing process for affordable housing, among other provisions.
And during Tuesday’s meeting, Lawson said the law created by Senate Bill 23 “drives a hole right through” this program.
“It would have been helpful if we could have waited and seen if these changes that the county is making at the local level were effective,” Lawson said.
Finally, Lawson said the county is now working to create new rules to comply with the law through an ordinance, and that the council has been in conversation with the two other counties as well.
He said housing projects will not be approved until the council passes the ordinance.
