Family farm leads Lloyd to Sussex County Council seat

EDITOR’S NOTE: Three candidates, calling for controls on what they see as overwhelming housing and commercial development, defeated incumbent Sussex County Council members at the polls. The newcomers say they have a mandate from the public to drastically alter the course of growth. The Cape Gazette is profiling them and their goals as they prepare for the start of their four-year terms next month.

Matt Lloyd has been working to restore the family farm where he was raised and homeschooled with his 13 siblings.

“I’m in the process of fixing it up and bringing it back to its former glory,” Lloyd said.

His grandfather, Woody Phillips, bought the 60-acre farm in Laurel in the 1960s, including the farmhouse dating back to the 1890s. While serving in the Air Force for seven years, Lloyd bought the farm from his aunt. He sold the sheep and pigs, and began sharecropping corn and soybeans. He wants to switch to watermelons.

Lloyd knows the importance of having a plan. So he was frustrated as housing and commercial development spread into rural parts of Sussex County, seemingly without coordination, which overburdened public services, infrastructure and schools. He also thought the county government was not fiscally responsible.

Lloyd decided to do something about it, entering the race for the District 1 seat on Sussex County Council to represent the rural southwest section of the county. He defeated longtime Council President Mike Vincent in a Republican primary, receiving nearly 58% of the vote. There was no Democrat challenger.

Lloyd was among three newcomers who swept the available seats after running campaigns calling for controls on development, he noted.

“It appears that the public is demanding change, and what we’re currently doing is not working,” he said. “It intersects around land use. It seems obvious that that’s what the electorate wants.”

Sprawl means more drive miles, more sewage issues and a larger area for public safety personnel to respond to, among other problems, Lloyd said.

He said as a council member, he will work with experienced people to determine local needs and establish guidelines for growth to move the county in a better direction. Among them are incumbent council members and county administrators, including legal staff, school leaders and emergency services officials.

“These problems are not new to the council or the attorneys,” he said. “I think it’s helpful to understand why it has sprawled.”

Lloyd said he believes council should establish guidelines that encourage growth in areas where it already exists and is supported by infrastructure.

Much of the development in recent years has occurred in farmland and forested areas ill-suited for such projects because they lack infrastructure and are distant from community services, said David Edgell, director of the Office of State Planning Coordination, at last month’s Sussex Preservation Coalition meeting in Lewes.     

“To do it right will require code changes,” Lloyd said. 

A county comprehensive plan update scheduled for completion in 2028 will give council an opportunity to make those changes, he said.  

Funding for schools and fire departments are important issues, said Lloyd, who has begun meeting with fire chiefs and school superintendents. During tours, he found all of the local schools are at or over capacity, so action will be needed soon, he said. An ongoing statewide study of fire department funding is expected to be completed soon and will also need attention, he said.

Lloyd said the county needs to determine community needs and set guidelines to encourage developers to work toward those goals. The private sector will respond by building workforce housing, for example, Lloyd predicted. The Delaware Department of Transportation will also upgrade infrastructure to support well-planned growth, he said,

“I apply my heart and soul in everything I do,” Lloyd said.

He helped his father in pest control and home inspection businesses, and began his own carpet-cleaning business before enlisting in the Air Force, where his duties included combat air control and participation in a Crisis Response Force in the Middle East.

After leaving the military, he bought rental homes and a small apartment complex, and tried his hand at carpet cleaning, landscaping and inspecting power lines using drones. He became active in Republican politics and his life has centered around the family farm since he bought it in 2019.

“I’m never leaving here,” said Lloyd, who is single and never married. “This is where I want to raise a family.”