Why Should Delaware Care?
Sussex County residents continue to debate how to lower housing costs, particularly near Delaware’s popular beaches. A new law meant to speed up homebuilding and encourage more low-cost housing is causing backlash, and now, one city is considering pausing large housing developments in response.
The small beachside city of Lewes is considering a temporary ban on new large housing developments.
The proposal – the latest response to a new law that limits public hearings for certain building plans – has sparked support from city residents. But a prominent builders association has threatened to sue.
If implemented and upheld, the moratorium also could serve as a model for other municipalities.
Earlier this month, the Lewes City Council held a public hearing to gather feedback on the proposed moratorium, which the city’s planning commission said was its response to Senate Bill 23.
Passed in June as a way to speed up home building and encourage more low-cost housing, SB 23 prohibits public hearings for building plans that do not need a zoning change, known as by-right developments.
Supporters argue it is a logical measure to shorten the approval process and lower building costs, because local governments can not deny by-right developments anyway. But the law has also sparked outrage across rapidly growing Sussex County from preservationists who say it removes a necessary layer of transparency.
At the Lewes public hearing on Oct. 7, Planning Commission Vice Chair Kevin Keane linked the proposed housing moratorium to Senate Bill 23. He argued that the city’s comprehensive plan does not have enough statutory standards to ensure that developers build in a way that residents want.
Public hearings fill that gap, he said.
The moratorium would give the town time to adopt new concrete rules with resident feedback as part of its guiding comprehensive plan, he said.
“We just haven’t had an opportunity to allow for that public input yet,” Keane said.
If passed, the moratorium would ban developments with more than five homes until Lewes adopts a new comprehensive plan, or until Dec. 31, 2027. The city council will potentially vote on the proposal at its meeting on Nov. 9.
The city is currently in the process of collecting resident feedback for its next plan, due October 2027.
Lawsuit in response?
If Lewes passes the moratorium, Home Builders Association of Delaware President Jon Horner said his organization would sue the city.
At the October hearing, Horner argued that municipalities need to have a valid reason to pass a moratorium, and there are not any large tracts of land left in Lewes that could host a large housing development.
He said the moratorium is also not necessary because the new law only changes the process for reviewing by-right developments, not the outcome.
“If I come in right now with a major subdivision that is code compliant, you have to approve it. All Senate Bill 23 does is say you can’t have a public hearing when you do that,” Horner said.
Similar moratoriums could be adopted more widely if Lewes’ is shown to be legally defensible. Millsboro Town Council earlier this month discussed implementing a moratorium as well.
Sussex County has also paused reviews of by-right developments, but not with a formal moratorium.
Get Involved: The Sussex County council will discuss updates for its implementation of Senate Bill 23 at its next council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 10 a.m. at the Sussex County Administrative Office Building, located at 2 The Circle in Georgetown. For additional details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
What do Lewes residents think?
Joe Pika, Lewes resident and president of the Sussex Preservation Coalition, said he supports the moratorium because Senate Bill 23 has left municipalities with many questions.
“I think every jurisdiction needs to have a delay to figure out how do we measure up against this new process that has been mandated by the state?” Pika said.
He also said Senate Bill 23 does change the outcome for by-right developments, not just the process.
Some lawyers interpret the law as barring local governments from imposing conditions on projects, such as requiring developers to build a fence. Prime sponsor of the bill, Sen. Russ Huxtable (D-Lewes), said he disagrees with that interpretation.
Lewes resident Jim Colbert said he doesn’t mind new development in town, but is worried about protecting farmland and green spaces. He said he doesn’t want to stop all growth, but “there needs to be more long term planning.”
Another Lewes resident, Lee Dunham, said she is totally for the proposed moratorium, calling development in the area “out of hand.” She said she favors affordable housing, but that’s not what’s being built.
Proponents of Senate Bill 23 argue that any increase in housing supply, even building high-cost homes, leads to lower home prices overall because of supply and demand dynamics.
Another Lewes resident told Spotlight Delaware that he sees two sides of the debate. Local artist Abraxas Hudson said he wants to protect nature, as he paints mostly landscapes, but he also understands and respects property owners’ rights. Plus, new residents help his business.
“Every new home is an opportunity to sell art,” he said.
