Eul Lee is a resident of Lewes.
After six years of observing Sussex County’s land use approval process, I am appalled by how the cumulative impact is disregarded and how the domino effect justifies more development.
Never a concern during the approval process, the cumulative impact’s ugly side surfaces when it is too late to fix. Some huge upzoning applications are assessed and approved one by one, without considering the impact of other nearby projects in the queue — against the opposition of the state planning office due to a lack of infrastructure funding and environmental concern. Some will add tens of thousands of daily vehicle trips, threatening to more than double the current traffic where the newly widened road capacity is already tested. Many projects near waterbodies will destroy the area’s critical natural buffers, increasing flooding risk; many roads to evacuation routes will be flooded. (The Delaware Department of Transportation identified 3,000-plus road segments in Sussex County as “frequently flooded.”)
Eventually, the cumulative impact tramples quality of life in the form of traffic mayhem, more flooding risk, environmental degradation, medical shortages, school overloads, first responder burnout, potential water shortages, wastewater treatment overburdens, etc. Angry voices of the affected get louder, but there are always scapegoats: The Planning & Zoning Commission’s excuse is zoning ordinances set forth by County Council; council’s excuse is property owners’ rights.
So, the cumulative impact train continues rolling down the hill, picking up speed, with no brakes. Then, in 2024, all three County Council incumbents who were up for reelection were voted out. Yet, a newly elected councilman’s call for a temporary moratorium is squashed as too drastic, under the guise of government reliability and predictability. Sure, for the developers and big landowners, yes! What about the many small landowners who suffer the consequences?
As Sussex County keeps approving developments, snickering at the traffic issues, DelDOT (a reactive agency) is in perpetual catchup mode. Even before the completion of an improvement project, in the making for 10-20 years, multiple large projects line up, citing the recently improved road. After enduring four to five years of roadwork, residents face more construction for new large projects and their required road improvements. Where is the relief?
Sprinkling a few dozen lower-priced housing units within a huge project is lauded as a great thing to house the many medical staff we need to add. However, population growth far outpaces the growth of medical staff.
The domino effect occurs when prior approvals become reasons for more new developments. Rural areas are now called “urban” because Planning & Zoning approved several subdivisions in recent years, and the new residents need commercial/business amenities and medical services. When the very P&Z commissioner who has voted to approve each one makes a motion to permit a large new project, citing all the recent development, it adds insult to injury.
If you live in Kent or New Castle counties and do not identify with these issues, you still need to care. Sussex, considered a cash cow by some, may come down one day as a burden to you: Building on floodplains is allowed only in Sussex County, where the elevation is the lowest of the three counties and is vulnerable to flooding risk. Heavy storms can devastate Sussex County with human and property losses, and, lacking the budget to do so, it will look to the state for help, and Delaware cannot expect much federal disaster assistance.
Now is the time to act on statewide regulations regarding growth and on preparation for disasters.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
