'The traffic is us': Sussex grapples with density debate as county housing grows

Taylor Goebel | The Daily Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: What Sussex roads had an increase in traffic An analysis of data obtained from the Delaware Department of Transportation through the Freedom of Information Act shows some staggering increases in traffic volume on many key roads in Sussex in a relatively short period of time.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the name of the applicant of the rezoning request in Lewes that could potentially have 165 multi-family apartment units.

When Sussex County councilman George Cole told a roomful of homeowners he voted against their community, it wasn't because he didn't like them.

The Peninsula, a sprawling 800-acre community of over 1,400 homes in Millsboro, was a "great community," Cole said in a recent phone interview, but too dense and out of character with the area, "larger than three-fourths of the small towns in this county."

He told the property owners earlier this year, "Folks, I wish half of you weren't here."

Cole is at the center of a debate — one that could have lasting effects on southern Delaware's upsurge in traffic — as the council plans for Sussex County's next 27 years in its comprehensive plan: Should the council allow more housing units per acre to reduce sprawl, or stick to the low-density status quo?

Sussex is the fastest growing county in Delaware. The population has doubled since 1990, statistics show.

Southern Delaware is a vacation home mecca, with over one-third of the housing units here deemed vacant.

Background: Sussex traffic worsens with growth in housing, jobs, tourism

The housing market on the eastern side caters especially to retirees and second-home buyers, local realtors say. Bethany Beach realtor Leslie Kopp said in her market, inventory is half of what it was just two years ago.

At the Peninsula meeting earlier this year, to which Cole said he was late due to traffic, a man asked matter-of-factly, "You guys approve development. Why don't you stop it?"

The Peninsula was approved in November 2002 as a residential planned community for medium density housing, including condominiums. Cole was the sole "Nay."

When the council approved The Peninsula 16 years ago, the comprehensive plan had predicted the county would swell to 73,292 households by 2020: In 2016, there were already over 83,000.

Over 40 percent of single-family homes here are less than 20 years old. Last year's fiscal year saw 2,269 new dwelling permits issued, and residential property sales topped 5,000 in 2017.

Less than 20 percent of all land in Sussex County, including parcels listed under protected status, is developed. That leaves 256,000 acres of land that are either undeveloped or farmed.

As more people stay at the beach beyond summertime tourism, car-dependent sprawl fans out into areas lacking public transportation, shopping centers and roads that accommodate increased traffic.

Many officials are calling for moderate infrastructure improvements, like putting in longer turning lanes, connecting commercial parking lots, adding additional lanes and widening shoulders — fixes that could have been made 10 or 20 years ago, Cole said.

"Those are the simple things we should be requiring," he added.

But a recent 3-2 vote against Overbrook Town Center, a sprawling shopping center that would have been built in a residential area between Milton and Lewes, shows the county council's near-even divide over rezoning, density and commercial and mixed-use development.

It's no surprise that a resort area on the Atlantic Ocean within a three-hour drive of Washington D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia could attract such an influx. That geographic proximity is what makes Sussex County unique, and what makes more people come, year after year, temporarily and permanently.

Cole, who is considering stepping down this year as council member after 36 years, is focused on the folks who currently live here year-round, those most impacted by increased development and subsequent traffic.

"We’re at capacity," he said, "and I just question, is it good to keep piling on?"

Density and mixed use, debate

Joe Conaway's single-family home on a spacious corner lot in Georgetown is the picture of low-density suburbia and the Sussex County status quo.

But it's not Conaway's ideal model for the future of Sussex County.

He describes himself as pro-growth, and as a land use consultant who has represented large communities like The Peninsula, he ought to be.

"Smart growth to me is density," the former county administrator said. Following the county's low-density scripture of two housing units per acre in agricultural-residential zones forces more development, than, say, allowing four units to the acre.

"In order to get to 400 units, I've got to do another 200 acres," Conaway said. "So all I do is go down the street and keep building, until we're way out in the county where nobody wants (the houses) to be."

Sussex County councilman and U.S. Senate candidate Rob Arlett said he supports certain densities in specific locations, though not necessarily to the scale of Sea Colony, which was approved when the county allowed 36 units per acre.

While Cole has argued higher density projects will contribute to more traffic, Arlett says the same about single-family homes.

"No matter what we do it’s not going to change people’s desire to come here," Arlett said, questioning what will happen if the county keeps saying yes to just two housing units per acre.

"It will be a continuation of what’s been happening, and that’s called sprawl," he said, adding that more farmland gets eliminated with current development standards and people are pushed onto the back roads. "That exacerbates the issue."

But the issue isn't just density, Arlett said: It's increasing housing types like apartments and condominiums, and putting them near existing public transportation and infrastructure.

Cole said developers are primarily building single-family developments "because that's what the market is," but Arlett wants to bring in affordable housing, which doesn't necessarily equate to detached homes on a half-acre lot, especially in eastern Sussex.

The Lewes City Council voted 4-1 on June 11 to approve a request to rezone a seven-acre lot to mixed residential.

The request was submitted by OA Vantage Point II, LLC and is comprised of Greg Stevens, Vantage Point and Ocean Atlantic President Preston Schell.

The parcel, located off Savannah Road, could contain 165 multi-family apartment units priced for working folks, as presented by Schell Brothers for a conceptual site plan.

The parcel, located off Savannah Road, could contain 165 multi-family apartment units suited for working folks, as presented by Schell Brothers for a conceptual site plan.

Councilperson Dennis Reardon said he thinks there is a need for workforce housing, especially for Beebe Hospital and Cape Henlopen High School employees.

"While there will be a traffic impact, I don’t think it will be that great," he said.

According to councilperson Rob Morgan, those who spoke against the rezoning request were concerned with density and traffic, especially since it could generate more vehicle trips on Savannah Road.

But Reardon said the apartments would give people a place to live in Lewes and thus less time on the road.

Related: Live where you work, unless at the beach. Affordable housing slim at resorts

More people, even those who can't afford a $300,000 single-family home, can get their housing slice, according to Conaway. It will just take more density and mixed-use development, which may also help residents drive less miles to get to shopping, nightlife and other amenities that improve quality of life.

Delaware Department of Transportation planning director Drew Boyce said the agency supports mixed-use development. Integrated residences and businesses are part of Sussex County's history, he added.

"When we first came here and started settling, everything was mixed together," Boyce said. "The general store, housing and restaurants were all on the same block."

Then the county created zoning districts, which Boyce said serves a purpose for separating incompatible industries like loud manufacturing businesses from neighborhoods.

"But what's wrong with having a school in a residential area, or a food service provider?" he said. "Those types of mixed use we encourage."

Transportation, issues in the past

Transportation and development are at an all-time high now, but the roadside affair has been ongoing for over 40 years now.

Conaway remembered fighting the “continuous battle” for better roads back in the 1970s during his time as county administrator.

He testified on the floor of the state senate and told legislators Sussex County needed relief from traffic congestion.

An upstate senator, whom Conaway declined to name, told him, "Look, it's a 100-day season. Get used to it." Now, the summer season's congestion is spreading into the rest of the year as more people fall in love with Sussex County so much they decide to live there.

"The opportunity to correct some of the road problems is slowly diminishing," Conaway said

"You didn't notice there were a lot of cars? You didn't notice that we are a large tourist industry?" Conaway asked, figuratively pointing at the newcomers who complain about traffic at county meetings.

Story continues after graphic

DelDOT doesn't have to build a bunch of new roads, Conaway said. Rather, it should better utilize existing ones by renumbering them and redirecting people to them.

In the 70s, during Conaway's time as county administrator, the state suggested building a new Route 26 south of Bethany Beach, one that would have involved seven major acquisitions.

"The people raised hell: 'We'll never need that kind of road. It'll never happen,'" Conaway recalled. "Well, it did."

Boyce mirrored Conaway's observation, saying many proposals to expand major corridors like Route 26 and Route 9 were "met with a lot of opposition," halting projects to improve major links to Sussex County's transportation system.

More: Five Points traffic nightmare: Officials search for a fix

More: Senior transportation expands in Sussex County

Part of it may have been DelDOT's fault in how they communicated projects, but that's changing, according to Boyce.

"We're getting folks to see the future and where we're going, now that the future is in their front yard," he said. "Folks are realizing you can't just do nothing. No is no longer an answer to the transportation issues."

Overbrook and mixed use

A young Joe Biden, who was just starting his career as a senator in 1973, came up to Joe Conaway after a town meeting, wanting to talk to him.

They went down to his office and Conaway asked, "What's the problem?"

"You've got to stop this development," Conaway remembers Biden saying. "You've got to do something about all this traffic and growth."

"And I said to him, 'I'll do it. I'll get fired, and people are going to be mad,' " he recalled. " 'But you answer one question for me: Who's the last person on the beach? Give me their name. Who's the last person here?'"

Forty-five years later, the last person is yet to be determined in Sussex County, and Conaway's land consultancy business is still representing incoming developments.

Council votes 3 to 2 against Overbrook Town Center Members of the Sussex County Council voted 3 to 2 against the proposed Overbrook Town Center during a Sussex County Council meeting in Georgetown.

Overbrook Town Center, a recently rejected project that Conaway provided his services to, in its most recent manifestation would have been a 312,000-square-foot shopping center in front of a residential development called Overbrook Acres with 135 homes on 66 acres.

The project, which would have been located on Cave Neck Road just off Route 1, met massive public opposition. Nearby residents voiced concerns about quality of life, the environment and of course, traffic.

More: Sussex officials say no to rezoning farmland on Del. 1 for Overbrook Town Center

More: Overbrook Town Center: What to know about the revote

Despite the updated mixed-use proposal, the developers were rejected by a 3-2 vote.

"Overbrook was designed to bring regular shopping to Sussex County," Conaway said. "The things you go to Salisbury and Dover to get, that's what would have been there."

While the future of the parcel is yet to be determined, it may become what it was zoned for: residential housing, no more than two units to the acre.

"We can’t keep saying yes to single-family homes and keep saying no to commercial," Arlett said. "You need commercial to support those (people) buying the homes."

Millsboro example, looking to future

Not everyone says no to growth.

Millsboro grew in population by 12 percent from July 2016 to June 2017, according to the town's website. It issued the highest number of residential permits in the county between 2011 and 2016. And it prides itself in being a "truly pro-business, pro-family town."

"If you're not growing, you're dying," town manager Sheldon Hudson said. "We want to find a way for the town to embrace the positive aspects of development."

Developments in Millsboro like Plantation Lakes carry a mix of housing options, from single-family homes to villas and townhomes, which arguably cost much less in Millsboro than they would near the beach.

Hudson is a proponent of "work where you live," and calls place-making "huge." He often uses the tagline, "the convenience of a city but the charm of a small town," when describing Millsboro.

More: Millsboro says plan to draw business, residents is working

More: Millsboro hopes to build restaurant boom downtown

Retirees and millennials have at least one thing in common: They want to do as much as they can in the place they live, Hudson said.

And if Millsboro can attract enough of a mix of people, from millennials to retired folks, from hospitality workers to health care professionals, it could end up creating a mixed-use environment, where services are in close proximity to residences.

But it doesn't work if higher density development is not within walking or biking distance.

"(George) Cole is right in that if it's truly not dense and diverse enough to have commercial reasonably close to residential, then you just end up in a smaller space," Hudson said.

Public transportation works "much better" in higher density, urbanized areas like Wilmington, Boyce said. Having more regular riders means DelDOT can provide a more reliable bus service.

"Density in the middle of nowhere doesn’t help anybody," Boyce said, echoing Cole. "But if we can cluster higher density developments in and around existing transit routes, that allows us to potentially increase the frequency of those transit routes and provide a better service."

Sussex County Council is in discussion for a potential pilot program that would be located in a geographic area not completely built out yet, Arlett said.

It could serve as Sussex County's mixed-use trailblazer.

The area would include "all types of housing" and commercial development near residences. Arlett calls the test an "opportunity to plan for the future."

For now, as tourists squeeze their way into the resorts this summer, Cole is determined to accomplish one feat: Keep the traffic moving.

"We will be defeated if we get gridlock on a regular basis and it just comes to a halt," Cole said, adding that proposed solutions need to ensure the roadways don't become a parking lot.

"Nothing is worse than being stuck in gridlock. That kills me," Cole said. "If I’m creeping along, I’ve got hope."

tgoebel@delmarvanow.com

Traffic by the numbers

Between 2001 and 2016

•Route 16, a two-lane east-west highway, saw an 82 percent increase in traffic. On average, 6,330 vehicles per day use that road, which runs through Milton to Route 1.

•Route 1, a four-lane highway that often backs up during peak vacation times, registered an increase of 58 percent in both directions north of Route 16, carrying an average of 32,871 vehicles daily.

•Route 24 between Millsboro and Route 1 had a 70 percent increase, with an average of 19,308 vehicles daily.

•Route 9 at the infamous Five Points had a 24 percent increase while the same two-lane road had a 63 percent increase west of Georgetown, where it crosses Route 113.

•Route 404 west of 113 — a favorite of beach-going tourists — had an increase of 45 percent, carrying an average of 29,819 vehicles daily.

•Route 113, another favorite of vacationers traveling north and south, had an astounding 112 percent increase. The four-lane road carried 38,505 vehicles daily.

•Route 26, Garfield Parkway, declined by 17 percent, possibly because construction activities.

•Route 54, a busy east-west highway in the southern part of the county that runs through Selbyville, saw a modest increase from 6,269 vehicles daily to 6,869 from 2010 to 2016. Locals often complain about traffic on the route and DelDOT could not explain the discrepancy between residents’ perceptions and their own data.

Winter is growing

•On Route 113 between routes 9 and 404, February traffic in 2010 averaged 13,034 vehicles per day in 2010 but that volume increased 101 percent to 26,163 in 2016.

•By contrast, the July 2016 daily volume was just 19 percent higher — 31,184 vehicles.

•Route 113 traffic in February 2016 was 26,163, marginally lower than the summertime peak of 31,184 vehicles. In 2010, the differences were markedly different — 13,034 vehicles in February, 32,723 in July.