Russ Huxtable is a Democrat representing Lewes in the Senate.
Strong communities are made up by the teachers who educate our children, the healthcare workers who serve our most vulnerable neighbors, the first responders who put their lives on the line to protect us and the countless workers whose dedication keeps our communities running every day.
Those same people deserve more than the opportunity to work in our communities — they deserve the opportunity to call our communities home.
That’s the promise of Senate Bill 23, The Housing for Every Delawarean Act.
Delaware’s housing crisis didn’t happen overnight. Decades of inaction by many local governments have left our zoning ordinances stuck in the past, failing to keep pace with the growing need for diverse and affordable housing units. We cannot keep doing the same thing, expecting a different result.
Senate Bill 23 gives local governments the tools to plan for the sustainable development their communities need, while allowing them the flexibility to determine how to best achieve those goals. The law seeks outcomes by asking local governments to plan for housing, update their zoning rules and pursue smart growth strategies to ensure that people can afford to live in the same communities they serve.
This is not an attack on local control. It is a call for local leadership.
I know all too well that, in Sussex County, where housing costs and unchecked growth have put enormous pressure on working families, that leadership is especially important.
Sussex County Council’s recent decision to pull existing land use applications from consideration by its Planning & Zoning Commission only reinforces the frustration around the gridlock that has surrounded housing development for decades.
Blaming SB 23 for that decision misses the larger point: Our communities have struggled with outdated land use policies, sprawl and a lack of affordable housing long before this bill became law.
When a proposed by-right project comes before Sussex County’s Planning & Zoning Commission, legal counsel often advises that the subdivision application in front of them “meets the purpose and standards of the subdivision code.”
This limits the commission’s and County Council’s ability to reject a project because it complies with the county’s own rules. It’s exactly what they’ve asked for, where they’ve asked for it and how they’ve asked for it.
Yet residents still show up with the expectation that sharing their concerns could change the outcome, often leaving them frustrated with a process where there is little legal discretion. The real opportunity to shape development was when those rules were written.
SB 23 does not eliminate public participation; Delaware public meeting rules still require that members of the public be offered an opportunity to make verbal comments at any public meeting. SB 23 did not change those rules. Written public comment is still accepted for by-right projects, and local governments still have the power to place modest conditions for approval on those projects.
However, the most effective time for residents to shape the future of their community is when their local government’s comprehensive plan is being written and updated, and when land use ordinances and codes are developed to implement that plan.
A comprehensive plan guides where development occurs and what infrastructure and services our communities need. Ordinances and codes can be updated at any time, but aligning those updates with the comprehensive plan is particularly important to ensure that the community’s vision can actually be implemented.
All of this happens with public feedback. Once those rules are in place, a project that follows the rules should not have to start the entire debate over again, wasting time, resources and public energy.
Instead, SB 23 ensures that there is a collaborative process that includes the public, encouraging their involvement at the most crucial part of the land use processes: the updating of their comprehensive plan and the subsequent ordinances, the blueprint for how the community will grow and evolve.
Rather than relying on a system in which residents are asked to fight development one project at a time, we should give them a meaningful seat at the table when the rules themselves are being written.
Contrary to some criticism, The Housing for Every Delawarean Act does not strip local governments of their ability to make these decisions. Rather, it empowers them with additional tools to shape their communities’ future, including through mandating outcomes for their respective needs.
Local governments, and the residents in their communities, still have choices. They must determine which tools make the most sense for them. That choice brings a responsibility to act.
For too long, we have talked about the need for affordable housing, while allowing the rules that govern where and how we build to remain largely unchanged. That inaction has led to rising housing costs, longer commutes, homelessness, increased suburban sprawl and workers who can’t afford to live near the communities they serve.
As government officials, it is our duty to address the difficult issues that have been left unresolved for too long. The people we represent deserve more than another round of outrage over why nothing can change.
If we say we want strong communities, we need to make sure the people who keep them strong can afford to live in them.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
