Sussex County’s Land Use Reform Working Group seems to be getting closer to finishing its mission.
After a meeting last month intended to clean up and clarify the language of 17 draft recommendations for county lawmakers bogged down, members returned Tuesday with nine recommendations left to review. They also saw a list of proposed changes authored by four members of the group.
One recommendation would divide the county into growth and conservation areas. It also lays out nine parameters for building in growth areas, like proximity to transit, public water and sewer, and schools.
“We need all of those things in order to have growth supported," said Mike Riemann, an engineer and member of the working group. "So rather than be a bit more nebulous, we wanted to have some specific criteria and that's what those nine items do.”
Another proposed change would cut the required number of affordable housing units in new developments from 25% to 15% or 10%. Group members seemed broadly supportive of the idea, although the Delaware State Housing Authority’s Caitlin Del Collo expressed concern about too big a reduction.
“I would support dropping it to 15," she said. "Ten makes me feel a little uncomfortable.”
But Jon Horner from the Delaware Home Builders Association says developers told him 10% is a sweet spot for economic feasibility.
“The 10% number was where it really stuck out to say, ‘you're dumb if you don't do this.’ And so the idea being if you get 20 projects at 10%, you might only get eight at 15%, and the total units coming online is less," he said.
The group also discussed measures to balance growth and conservation, as well as ideas to protect trees in the county.
At their next meeting August 21, the group expects to turn its draft proposals into final recommendations for County Council.
