Why Should Delaware Care?
Controversy has broken out in Georgetown in recent weeks over citizens’ disapproval of the town’s homeless population and the town government’s handling of the issue. While a tiny home project seemed to have widespread support in the early stages, the citizen group’s sudden pushback against the proposed cottage homes is drawing into question the project’s future.
The future of a first-of-its-kind tiny home project in Georgetown is uncertain following backlash from residents to the presence of a growing community of homeless people in the area.
Earlier this fall, leaders of the tiny home project, called Little Living, thought they were ready to begin standing up their 22-unit community, after Georgetown town leaders had expressed support for their model.
The previous spring, the town had approved their construction of two model homes. And in September, the planning commission passed a zoning ordinance approving the larger project.
But, in recent weeks, the Little Living company – and a cottage housing ordinance that would allow it to build the project – became the latest target of a group of residents calling for the resignation of town leaders. Last month, more than 30 residents from the group spoke during a town council meeting about their dismay with the number of unhoused people in the town, and the problems they see with existing homeless services.
LEARN MORE IN THIS PODCAST WITH MAGGIE REYNOLDS
If Little Living does not get approvals from Georgetown, project leaders George Meringolo and Tom McElroy say an intervention from the state to mandate affordable housing might be an alternative solution.
But state leaders are less certain as to whether the tiny homes project is the type of affordable housing that Gov. Matt Meyer intends to push at a local level.
Delaware State Housing Authority Director Matt Heckles said the state would like local governments to take a close look at existing zoning laws in order to encourage more affordable housing. But he is not certain whether the focus should be on tiny homes or other affordable housing models.
“We need to look at the structures of our zoning and planning, and figure out why we are getting the results that we are,” he said.
Still, McElroy, Little Living’s treasurer, told Spotlight Delaware he is cautiously optimistic.
The Georgetown Town Council will have its second and final reading of the cottage housing ordinance at its Dec. 8 meeting.
Town controversy erupts
Georgetown has been split into factions since early October, when a group of residents, which refer to themselves as Make Georgetown Great Again on Facebook, began calling for the town’s existing homeless service options to be dismantled, and members of the town council to step down.
While the group of residents has continued criticizing homeless service providers Springboard Delaware and The Shepherd’s Office at recent council meetings, their attention has also turned to the proposed tiny homes project on East Market Street in Georgetown.
The Little Living project would include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes, all between 450 and 800 square feet, for a total of 22 dwellings.
More than 50 people showed up to the Nov. 10 town council meeting, where the first reading of the cottage home ordinance took place, which would create the zoning change to allow the tiny homes to be built.
“These are not cottages. They are very small, too close together, and if anything they can easily become a blight on the community,” Georgetown resident Linda Dennis, who has been particularly vocal at recent council meetings, said on Monday.
As resident after resident came to the microphone to voice their disapproval of the project, Georgetown Mayor Bill West asked attendees to raise their hand if they are against the tiny homes. Virtually every hand in the room went up.
Residents brought up concerns that the homes will bring in out-of-towners who won’t care about the Georgetown community, and said they are fed up with Georgetown being the guinea pig for innovative solutions to the housing crisis, like Springboard Delaware’s pallet village.
To McElroy, however, residents are conflating the Little Living project with homeless services, when the target audience really is affordable housing for working-class individuals making between 45% and 75% of the area median income.
“We were a little bit caught off guard about all of a sudden being mixed in with all of the homeless issues and concerns,” McElroy said after Monday’s council meeting.
McElroy said he and other members of the Little Living group plan to do as much outreach to concerned Georgetown residents as possible to clarify the goal of their project and separate themselves from other homelessness services before the December council meeting.
While West has been clear about his support of the cottage house ordinance and the tiny homes project, it remains to be seen how other members of the town council will vote on the proposal.
Council member Eric Evans said he is still making up his mind on the ordinance, while Penuel Barrett said he plans to vote against the measure because it would allow any future developer, beyond just Little Living, to put 12 houses on a single acre of land.
Springboard Delaware is also considering building a community of cottage homes in Georgetown, if the zoning change passes the town council, according to Executive Director Judson Malone.
Town council members Christina Diaz-Malone – Judson’s wife – and Tony Neal did not respond to Spotlight Delaware’s request for comment.
West added that he is exploring some changes to the ordinance, such as suggesting Little Living build their homes on a different site further from the center of town, in an effort to find compromise with residents that are vehemently against the current tiny homes proposal.
Little Living, however, has not agreed to a location change.
A statewide solution
While Meringolo and McElroy said they are concerned by the pushback to the tiny homes project at the town level, they believe there are potential work arounds to still get the homes up and running if the ordinance change is defeated.
The pair pointed to Gov. Meyer’s statement that he might force localities to allow more dense housing types in some parts of the state to address the affordable housing crisis.
“We’d rather figure out a way to work with the local jurisdiction,” McElroy said. “But one proposal is that the state take action to establish regulations to improve housing.”
Little Living has also run into roadblocks in its effort to get the Kent County Planning & Zoning Commission’s approval to build a second tiny home community in the Frederica area.
Heckles, the state housing director, added that the cottage house ordinance in Georgetown would be the first of its kind in Kent or Sussex counties, but New Castle County does have a somewhat similar ordinance for “pocket neighborhoods” that passed when Meyer was county executive.
The state legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution 8 at the end of the 2025 legislative session, creating a program for the state housing authority to give technical assistance to local governments in adjusting their zoning ordinances to allow for more affordable housing.
Heckles and State Sen. Russ Huxtable (D-Lewes), the Senate Housing & Land Use committee vice chair who sponsored SJR 8, said Georgetown did not receive state housing authority guidance in developing its cottage housing ordinance, as the statewide program is currently in its early stages.
However, Huxtable said he is hopeful the technical assistance will help communities, particularly in eastern Sussex County where the affordable housing supply is very limited, loosen their regulations and bring in more innovative affordable housing models – like the tiny homes.
“All options should be on the table,” he said.