New group weighs development’s impact

A key question of whether home building in Sussex County is outdistancing infrastructure was aired April 10, as the county’s land use reform working group met for the second time to begin drafting rules to limit growth. 

Group facilitator Andrew Bing listed five themes, based on discussion at the first meeting and one-on-one interviews with the 10 group members, in an effort to begin focusing on how to address development issues, which have been blamed for crowded roads, classrooms and doctors’ offices, burdens on emergency services and environmental damage.

Jill Hicks, president of the Sussex Preservation Coalition, took issue with the wording of the first theme, which read: “There is a risk of growth outpacing infrastructure.”

“The word ‘risk,’” Hicks said. “It says there is a risk of growth outpacing. The growth has outpaced the infrastructure. So I think risk is maybe the wrong word to use. We’ve outpaced infrastructure, and we have to find a way to catch up as we develop this plan.”

“First, I don’t agree that we’ve outpaced our infrastructure,” said Jon Horner, who represents the Home Builders Association of Delaware. “I think that certain areas are somewhat strained. We have sufficient water and sewer capacity in most areas. Traffic on roadways is generally moving, and adequately, except in certain areas. The idea that we’re not going to have traffic between eastern Sussex and the beach town area certain times of the year is just an impossibility. 

“Schools, they are at or near capacity,” added Horner, who is general counsel for Schell Brothers and Ocean Atlantic Companies. “That’s almost everywhere in the state. We have capacity issues in almost every school district. Not every one, but many.”

Horner said county rules should be changed to eliminate ambiguity that stifles production of diverse housing types, including affordable housing, and increased density is needed to prevent sprawl into rural areas. 

“So, have we exceeded our capacity?” Horner asked. “I don’t think we have. I think certainly we need to plan for future growth in a meaningful way.

“I think there is an expectation sometimes that all of the road infrastructure will be in place before you build a single house in a development, you’re going to do everything upfront,” said Mike Riemann, a representative of the American Council of Engineering Companies.

“It just isn’t reality,” added Riemann, who is president of the Home Builders Association of Delaware. “It just doesn’t work that way. It never has worked that way really anywhere. There’s always going to be a little bit of a lag of the road improvement following the development and growth. Mainly because of the way it's funded … I think what’s important is that there is a plan for it.” 

He said school overcrowding is a problem that needs to be solved, but not on the backs of developers.

“The idea of schools and capacity, they have been flirting with capacity my entire life,” Riemann said. “This didn’t just happen. We have a fundamental problem with how schools are funded and how we deal with school capacity.”

Hicks was not convinced that development has not already outpaced infrastructure and other services, noting 24% of building has occurred in rural areas where the state had not planned to support it.

“When you go ahead and build that much in an area where the state has clearly said [it will] not invest in infrastructure, it gets you where we are,” she said. “And so we have to do a better job of cooperating with the state and where their budget lies and where they intend to build the infrastructure that we all rely on.”

Jay Baxter, a Delaware Farm Bureau representative, suggested adding economic viability to the goals of changes proposed by the working group.

“If there’s no good economy in the county, then what’s the purpose in any of this?” Baxter asked. “If there’s no good economy in Sussex County, why would anyone come here to work?” 

Christophe Tulou, executive director of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, said political viability should also be considered in any proposals.

“I would suggest that we be thinking about what is ultimately going to be the task of the county council,” Tulou said. “What are they going to be hearing from their constituents about what we’re going to put on the table? So what we are offering is not a dead chicken.”

The group’s next meeting is at 10 a.m., Thursday, May 1. Meetings are held in the county Department of Public Safety building at 21911 Rudder Lane, Georgetown. The goal is to draft recommendations in the second quarter of the year, finalizing and presenting them to council in the third quarter. Council will prioritize proposed ordinances and hold public hearings in the fourth quarter.