Can Sussex 's serenity survive rapid growth?
While developers are welcome, some say county's too crowded
By CRIS BARRISH, The News Journal, Posted Wednesday, April 5, 2006
From the rolling dunes of Cape Henlopen , across the serene chain of Inland Bays, to the cypress swamps of Laurel , the natural wonders of Sussex County are enchanting.
Once visitors experience Sussex , many want to make it their home. Luckily for them, taxes are low and almost every acre of farmland is up for grabs.
That's just how county officials -- and developers -- want it.
As a result, since 1990 Delaware 's largest county has grown faster than all but 6 percent of counties nationwide.
"We've got the ocean. We've got water. We've got low taxes, and we still have a relatively wide-open county," said County Councilman Vance Phillips, a real estate agent and farmer. "This is the spot."
Typical of the newcomers is Gail Shaffer, a retiree who moved from New Jersey in 1990 to a home overlooking Rehoboth Bay . They moved to Sussex , Shaffer said, because taxes were cheaper and they "couldn't stay away from the salt water."
Today, Shaffer fears coastal areas are becoming too congested.
"It's a tsunami in Sussex ," she said.
More than 28,000 homes have been built in Sussex since 1990, county records show. While county officials don't keep track of how many are approved but not built, a News Journal analysis of county and state records found at least 45,000 more are in the works.
Development has been so rampant because Sussex is a place where a farmer's right to sell his land is sacrosanct and most council members view rapid growth as a grand benefit.
Council's pro-growth optimism contrasts with the view of state planners, who see Sussex growth as out of control, a planning nightmare where damage control is the only realistic goal.
" Sussex has taken a very short-term view of land use and quality of life," said Lee Ann Walling, land-use adviser to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. "The decisions they are making are going to affect what it's going to look like in the future. You're not going to be able to tell it's Sussex County anymore."
Many residents agree.
Ginny Johnson, who bought a home near Rehoboth Beach in 2003, enjoys her quiet neighborhood, her son's school and low taxes. But the pace of development has unsettled her. "There's too much traffic, too much building and I don't know where all this is going to go," she said.
In the eyes of Sussex County law, however, every landowner has the right to build a subdivision with two houses on every acre. The same density or higher applies to almost all 350,000 acres of what the state classifies as "buildable" land, even in the most remote regions.
County Council for the most part embraces growth and the tens of millions of dollars newcomers generate annually in taxes and sewer fees.
Members generally deny growth has created problems. Their chief administrator, Robert L. Stickels, said the county has spent $269 million on sewer upgrades since 1998, with $142.6 million more planned.
They blame the state for failing to build more roads. "We've come to realize people are going to come here whether there are good roads or not," Phillips said. "The state would be irresponsible to slow it down. We have a wonderful quality of life with the exception of traffic jams."
Stampede east to west
Sussex County 's growth is concentrated in the east, near the already-congested towns of Rehoboth Beach , Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island .
Just outside Bethany , for example, the largest development in Delaware history -- 2,700 homes -- is coming to Millville , which has all of 270 residents.
Mega-developments also are popping up 30 miles to the west, home to farming/industrial towns like Bridgeville, Seaford and Laurel . A 2,000-home community is being built on 800 acres annexed by Bridgeville, a town of 1,500 people.
Shaffer said she is continually distressed by congestion, mediocre construction and pushy newcomers who won't adapt to the languid pace.
"I resent developers stacking houses on top of each other," she said. "I know it sounds trite to say it's ruining the quality of life, but it really is true."
Stickels said officials are trying to direct growth, noting that the county has twice rejected the Isaacs Glen proposal for at least 1,450 homes near Milton .
But such rulings can be appealed. Said attorney James A. Fuqua Jr., who represents the Isaacs Glen developer: "We're not folding our tent."
Population up 56 percent
Until the early 1990s, Sussex 's rural lands and small towns looked about the same as they had a half-century earlier.
Stretches of corn and soybean fields, rows of chicken houses and dense forest covered the countryside. Grain elevators and church steeples loomed over towns. Cottages dominated seaside neighborhoods. Large-scale developments, except for trailer parks, were a rarity.
But from 1990 through 2005, population jumped from 113,000 to 176,000 -- a 56 percent leap -- census records show. That does not include 37,000 homeowners who live in other states.
Meanwhile, newcomers from upstate Delaware , New York , Washington and other areas -- attracted by seaside towns, ultra-low taxes, shopping outlets and laid-back lifestyle -- keep buying new homes.
A. Judson Bennett, a retired riverboat pilot who lost a 2004 council race, sees no end.
"Within 15 years," he said, " Sussex County is just going to be one cul de sac after another as far as the eye can see."
Growth advocates and political leaders counter that with 85 percent of the land undeveloped, Sussex is not congested.
They tout economic benefits to the county, which reaps real estate transfer taxes and other taxes and fees from every new home. On a $300,000 sale, for example, the county gets $4,500 in transfer taxes. Last year, that tax alone generated $36 million for the county government -- one-third of its total budget.
Growth proponents also charge that many critics are recent transplants who have bought homes on converted farmland but now, hypocritically, want to bar the door.
Fuqua, the development attorney, said residents should be delighted so many people recognize Sussex is a treasure and invest their money. " Sussex County has just mushroomed into a very desirable place. Good growth with all the economic benefits it brings is a good thing," he said.
'Meeting a demand'
Twenty years ago, Stickels said, the chief complaint by residents was "too many trailers and too many chicken houses." Now it's "too many golf courses and too many million-dollar homes. Tell me which county you would prefer to live in."
Ann Doutt, a retired data entry operator, has never regretted moving from suburban Newark in 1996 to a trailer in Long Neck, where she belongs to a marina. "I love it in Sussex . You just get in your car and go where you want," she said.
Should the county become too crowded, Doutt said, growth will slow naturally or cease.
Doutt and others said driving is a breeze except during summer. Stickels and other political leaders blame traffic jams on the state Department of Transportation for historically neglecting downstate roads in favor of New Castle County , where 62 percent of Delaware 's 844,000 residents live.
They say the state has treated Sussex like a neglected stepchild, but now -- with road money tight -- blame them for not halting development.
Sandra Ware, a real estate agent and president of the Positive Growth Alliance, a nonprofit group funded largely by developers, said concerns are overblown. A native of New Castle County -- where seven times as many people live per square mile -- Ware said Sussex will never become that congested.
"You have breathing room here even with the growth," Ware said. "It's meeting a demand, such a pent-up demand."
'Kill the golden goose'
But the rapid growth frightens many residents.
Joan Deaver, a Lewes-area resident since 1994 who founded Citizens for a Better Sussex, said rural charm is in jeopardy.
"We'll ruin a beautiful place, which is the very reason people want to come here," she said. "We'll kill the golden goose."
Mike Tyler of Lewes, president of the Citizens Coalition of Sussex County, said County Council is too focused on short-term financial gains. When he hops on his bicycle for long rides through the countryside, he's no longer surprised by signs advertising new subdivisions.
"The only thing County Council cares about is how much they can put in their coffers, so they can continue this binge they are on," Tyler said.
Former candidate Bennett said the county bows to developers: "If I were a developer, I'd come here. We have some of the most liberal development laws in the United States ."
Clogged beach gateways
Sussex County 's land-use policies have led to traffic woes Delaware cannot afford to solve.
"Absent a double-decker highway costing billions of dollars, there are only minor fixes that we can do to make even a dent in the problems there," said Darrel Cole, state transportation spokesman.
Currently, about 40 Sussex County road-related capital projects that would cost an estimated $400 million over the next five years are planned, but only a handful have begun.
That's because the state, which pays for roads, has delayed work while trying to plug a $2.7 billion shortfall for planned road projects. Building one mile of road costs $2 million to about $10 million, Cole said.
Traffic is formidable during the summer, when the weekend population can swell by 250,000.
On a six-lane, 5.7-mile stretch between Nassau and Rehoboth Beach on Del. 1, summer traffic backs up Friday and doesn't subside until late Sunday.
During the week, especially on rainy days, traffic crawls when vacationers flock to more than 140 outlet stores on Del. 1.
The state, which has spent tens of millions of dollars to widen Del. 1, can't afford to expand it any further. Buying up the rights to land where lucrative outlets and other businesses are located would be too expensive, said Nathan Hayward III, who stepped down last month as state transportation director.
The same kind of gridlock occurs on Del. 26 and Del. 54, two-lane arteries for Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island .
A $51 million project to widen part of Del. 26 has been put on hold, and isn't projected to start for at least three years. A $19.7 million project to alleviate some of Del. 54's congestion is also on the back burner.
Les Aaron-Friedlieb, a business consultant who moved near Del. 1 four years ago, said he avoids the road as much as possible. The congestion also turned off a friend thinking of buying a home in Sussex .
"He came down and got ticked off by all the traffic," Friedlieb said. "Here was a guy who was definitely going to move here and was driven off by the impending sprawl."
'Impaired waters'
While money, if available, could alleviate some traffic issues, it can't buy a solution to environmental problems.
State reports designate the Rehoboth, Indian River and Little Assawoman bays as "waters of exceptional recreational or ecological significance." Those same reports, however, also classify them as "impaired waters."
Yet dozens of subdivisions have been built on the shores, and more are planned. Two projects with at least 1,400 homes each are under construction.
Stormwater runoff to the bays from fertilized lawns have led to high levels of sediment and nutrients, which rob waters of oxygen, leading to algae growth that kills fish and releases noxious odors.
That hasn't halted the rush to develop. Indeed, a 1999 state report said officials realized it would be impossible to stop all development on the shores, deciding instead to seek "a balance between resource protection and sustainable growth."
They designated the lands "environmentally sensitive developing areas" and urged intergovernmental cooperation to promote sound land use.
The county's main solution: upgrading sewer systems.
In 2003, however, the county decided to create a special zoning district around the bays. State officials were hopeful the bill would provide strong protections, including lower density than two homes per acre.
Instead, the county passed a law requiring a consultant report and plans to minimize pollution. Disappointed state officials said the law would "only require additional data."
"Without the necessary controls to combat negative consequences of development," state planners wrote, "the environment in this district will continue to degrade."
John A. Hughes, ex-Rehoboth Beach mayor and now secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said the whole idea of an environmentally sensitive developing area is an oxymoron destined for trouble.
County policies will squander more precious resources, especially waterways, he said.
"Our environment is much more complex than most places. We've got inland bays and rivers and streams and ponds and ocean," Hughes said.
"If you don't think what's going on is wrong, take a drive around. Are you proud of what's going on around here?"
Staff reporter Jeff Montgomery contributed to this article. Contact senior reporter Cris Barrish at 324-2785 or cbarrish@delawareonline.com.
SUSSEX COUNTY STATISTICS
POPULATION
1990: 113,229
2000: 156,638
2005: 176,323
Increase 1990-2005
Sussex County : 56%
Avg for U.S. counties: 22%
New homes built 1990-2005: 28,236
FARMLAND REMAINING
1992
Farms: 1,515
Acres: 304,680
2002 (last year available)
Farms: 1,312
Acres: 283,503
FARMLAND PRESERVED
Farms: 160
Acres: 25,819
Cost: $37.7 million
Sources: New Journal research based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Sussex County , state of Delaware
Public hearing today on rural density bill
A Minner administration bill that would strictly limit development on about 450,000 acres of rural Delaware will be the subject of a public hearing today in Dover .
House Bill 280, also known as the Sprawl Prevention Act, would restrict development in those areas to one home per four acres. Sponsor Robert J. Valihura Jr., R-Talleyvile, said the measure would direct growth to areas with roads, schools and other public infrastructure, and protect Delaware 's agriculture and natural areas.
Development interests and many farmers oppose the bill, contending it would encourage sprawl by using up more land and would reduce the value of property.
The meeting of the House Transportation, Land Use and Infrastructure Committee will be [was] held at 3:30 p.m. in the Minority Caucus Room on the lower level of Legislative Hall.
[It did not even get out of committee. Joan Deaver]
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