Joseph A. Pika is a resident of Lewes.
“Build it and get the state to spend” seems to be the strategy now playing out in Sussex County. County land use decisions obligate the state to build infrastructure in nongrowth areas, if only to maintain public safety. County officials believe Sussex does not receive its fair share of state spending, and approving projects in Investment Level 4 forces the state to act. Sussex is, by far, Delaware’s worst offender in ignoring state strategies, and the Cool Spring Crossing project will add enormously to that record.
On July 2, the Cool Spring Crossing developer convinced the Sussex Planning & Zoning Commission to unanimously approve its proposal for a residential planned community and an amendment to the Sussex future land use map. The 637-acre development aims to build 1,922 residential units and 450,000 square feet of nonresidential shopping, office, medical, educational and recreational facilities, making it the fourth-largest (unincorporated) town in Sussex, housing 5,500 by 2045.
Many carrots and a big stick influenced the decision. Hoping to win approval after four failed efforts since 2021, the developer won support by promising a YMCA for recreation and child care, and medical offices to attract much-needed practitioners, as well as restaurants and other amenities. Most enticingly, it rode the affordable housing wave by promising to build 700 “workforce housing” units, though only 175 would be rent controlled, with the remainder offered at “market rates.”
The stick: If rejected again, sprawl would spread. The developer would build 1,274 single-family homes, allowed under Sussex County’s zoning ordinances “by right,” even in areas zoned for agricultural use.
Next comes Sussex County Council. Because the proposal includes a rezoning, an amendment to the future land use map and two conditional uses, it must now go before council, starting with a public hearing. As laid out in a 2024 memorandum of understanding between the county and the Office of State Planning Coordination, if council then wishes to move the effort forward, there must be conversations with The Cabinet Committee on State Planning Issues to resolve state objections that arose during the Preliminary Land Use Service review of the project.
Cool Spring is another in a lengthy history of projects approved by Sussex on land the state has categorized as Investment Level 4 — rural areas designated for agricultural use, where growth is not anticipated, and the state does not plan to invest in infrastructure. Most significantly, no improvements are now scheduled for U.S. 9, which runs from Lewes to Georgetown and has only single lanes running east and west in the Cool Spring area.
Even though Cool Spring residents and businesses are projected to add more than 33,000 daily vehicle trips to area roads that are already heavily used, the traffic impact study inexplicably did not call for improvements on U.S. 9.
With Sussex scheduled to begin its comprehensive planning process in mid-2026, this is an ideal time for the state to stand its ground. If future land use maps have the “force of law,” as specified by code, amendments should be limited adjustments, not wholesale rewrites, as in the case of Cool Spring. And the Quality of Life Act requires counties to cooperate with the state on planning matters, not flagrantly thumb their noses.
Local governments may exercise final authority over land use decisions, but they cannot do so irresponsibly.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
