Sussex County Council held a hearing on the massive Cool Spring Crossing project near Milton.
The project seeks to build 6 residential villages totaling about 1200 homes along Route 9. One village would offer affordable housing units -and plans also call for green spaces and a town center, offering retail and recreational facilities. The project anticipates being fully completed by the end of 2048.
Like other projects, this one faces pushback over traffic impacts and location. The proposed 637 acres would be developed in a low-density area which Sussex County has been discouraging.
The location, however, is not under the County’s control, as the developer has submitted a “by-right” application, which means council must approve the proposal if it meets certain standards.
Developer's attorney James Fuqua.
“Denial of the map amendment actually means that, although Cool Springs would not proceed, the land would be developed with single family houses on individual lots.” he said.
The development will be off of Route 9, which has yet to be upgraded to two lanes on either side. Even when it is, DelDOT only plans to do so up to Dairy Farm Road.
Council Vice President John Rieley doesn’t think the road can handle this type of development.
“I want it to work, but the states putting us in a tough position here because they’re not doing their part” he said.
The full Cool Springs Crossing proposal would add another 33,000 trips to the road according to DelDOT data. The developer, along with DelDOT, argues that some of those trips are already on the road and would just be redirected to the new project's eventual attractions.
Rieley says that the traffic impact study also doesn't take into account the yet to be built Northstar development, and the still being considered Atlantic Fields project— each of them are also expected to add tens of thousands of trips to the roadway.
The developers argue that the council should approve the larger plan and take advantage of the services proposed, which would bring an estimated 6,400 jobs to the area and an entire village of affordable housing; denying the proposal and the developer building clustered single-family homes would be "not as good", according to Fuqua.
But Lewes resident and retired lawyer Jim Dick pointed out during public comment that the development's location in the state's investment level 4 —the lowest that the state currently assigns— also creates an environment where the state's support of the would-be affordable housing is questionable.
"It is not a designated area of opportunity. Maybe it was in 2021... I don't know, but there's now a note in the Housing Authority's 2025-26 qualified allocation plan website that confirms that the Housing Authority agrees with Office of State Planning Commission's position, that the state doesn't support affordable housing in level four areas" he said
The affordable housing would meet the county's standards, though, as Sussex has been encouraging developers to include workforce or affordable housing units in their proposals.
The majority of public comment was against the proposal, but there were some residents who spoke in favor.
"This could be a really good opportunity for community balance: for affordable housing, for community involvement, for jobs, for mixed commercial spaces that also has a respect for the environment." said Tim Credle, a Milford resident who lives a quarter mile from the property the project would be built on.
The project plans to remove some wooded area, around 107 acres would be removed, but the developer says that only trees that have been timbered in the past would be removed as part of this project. The rest, another some 100 acres old growth, would be preserved by the developer with a walking trail built for use by residents of the development.
There's also a planned meadow conservation area in the proposal, with intentional foliage meant to support the Monarch Butterfly, a species currently designated as threatened by US Fish and Wildlife.
Green spaces would be maintained by a mandatory fee paid by all residents of the development except for those in affordable housing designations.
The council will continue to examine the project in the coming weeks - starting with questions to various state agencies. Once those are answered - another round of public comment will be accepted.
