County Council Public Hearing - Deferral - 11/27/2018

Packet

from page 118 of https://sussexcountyde.gov/sites/default/files/packets/SCC.Public.Packet.112718.pdf

• Memorandum from P&Z to Council

• P&Z Staff Analysis

County Council Approval (as Old Business) - 12/11/2018

Packet

from page 117 - 123 of https://sussexcountyde.gov/sites/default/files/packets/SCC.Public.Packet.121118.pdf

Photo Copy of page 5, Cape Gazette, Oct. 2, 2018 edition - Page 349

• Affordable and workforce housing problems outweigh solutions - Panelists: lack of economical rental, for-sale properties going to get worse

by Ellen Driscoll - October 2, 2018

Page 406-407

Project Conception Background By: Joe Reed, Boardwalk Development LLC

In the summer/fall of 2017, the Dorman family received multiple unsolicited offers from developers for their 60 acre parcel despite the property not being listed for sale. Hal Dukes at Tunnell & Raysor was representing the family and reviewing the contracts for the sellers. After several rounds of negotiations, I was able to emerge as the winning bidder in part due to my being a local developer with a proven track record and in part because I had already developed the adjacent Bay Pointe community on land formerly owned by seller’s father and uncle.

During my due diligence, I considered multiple ideas for this property and came across a few articles about the extreme need for workforce/moderate income housing close to the beaches. I have 24 and 29 year old daughters working and living in the area and witnessed first-hand the challenges for them (and their local friends) to find opportunities to purchase a decent house near the beaches and in the Cape Henlopen School District. Many of these young adults, including my daughters, grew up in the area, graduated from Cape Henlopen High School, attended college and returned home to decent jobs but then can’t find an opportunity to purchase a home because all the new communities are being targeted towards more affluent retirees. Many of these young adults work as nurses, teachers, police officers, medical personnel, store managers, construction industry employees, hospitality industry employees, etc.

At the same time while I was reviewing the Comp plan, zoning map and aerials of the Angola area -- a light bulb went off in my head that this is the perfect place for a quality workforce housing community that would be specifically targeted towards these younger families that have historically been priced out of the market. The property is already partially zoned GR and is sandwiched between other GR zoned lands that permit 4 units/acre. In addition the surrounding area already has a diverse mix of density, price ranges and housing type. For example, a 700+ unit mobile home park sits adjacent to the property and many other lower priced trailers adjoin the land. The property is in the development district, served by County sewer, served by central water from Tidewater and is in the Areas of Opportunity zone of DSHA that encourages support for new affordable housing opportunities. It is located less than 3.5 miles from Love Creek Elementary and Beacon Middle School. I could not think of a better suited property for workforce housing. The final piece was figuring out if such a project would be financially feasible at the market price of the subject parcel.

I did a lot of research on workforce housing and met with several builders. I attended the Governor’s Conference on Housing and a panel on affordable/workforce housing sponsored by SDARJ. I learned that the largest builder in Sussex County and Delaware, Ryan Homes, has a product line of houses geared specifically towards workforce/moderate income families. Ryan Homes is part of NVR Corporation and purchases more building permits in Sussex County than anyone else -- over 750 permits in 2017 alone. NVR builds over 17,000 homes per year nationally and enjoys many economies of scale and a buying power that allows them to construct the houses more cost effectively. In order to reach the price points necessary to make these homes affordable to Sussex County residents earning 80 - 120% of AMI, I learned that I needed to sell NVR finished lots for about 60% of the going rate for 7,500 sf lots in the immediate area. My land cost, engineering, development costs, impacts fees, DelDOT improvements, etc are not any less than the 7,500 sf lots being developed in the $400,000+ retiree buyer communities. Farmers aren’t selling the land to developers for less per acre because their plan is to develop workforce housing. After researching and learning that there are not any financial incentives (such as impact fee waivers, inspection fee waivers, building permit waivers, less DelDOT improvements, etc) for developing workforce housing, it quickly became clear that this idea was not financially feasible at 2.2 unit/acre. Moreover, I learned that the only other workforce housing proposed in the Lewes area is a condo project near Cape Henlopen High School by Preston Schell at a density of over 20 units/acre. After much financial modeling, I reached the conclusion that three items were needed to make the goal of providing non-subsidized, single-family, workforce housing a reality on this parcel: (1) Density would need to be at least 3.35 units per acre (2) The developer would need to assume more risks and work on a significantly smaller ROI (3) The builder would need economies of scale, a series of costeffective workforce house plans, and need to work on a tighter profit margin.

In order to make this 201-lot workforce housing community a reality and meet the clearly stated objectives in the 2008 Comprehensive Plan and draft 2018 Sussex Plan, it is going to take a collaborative effort between the developer, the builder and Sussex County. I am delivering the developer and builder in this application, approval from Sussex County is the only thing standing between this opportunity for 201 young families to realize the American Dream. If approved, I will do my best to make this community a success and will provide the County Administrator an annual summary of the results. I believe this site is an ideal location for workforce housing and that this application represents good land use planning, even absent the benefit of providing much needed workforce housing. The proposed use and density are consistent with the surrounding neighborhoods. I’m confident the project will be successful and will not negatively impact property values. I’m putting “my money where my mouth is” by risking millions of dollars in an endeavor to make workforce housing a reality instead of taking the proven route with the retiree buyer. Furthermore, I still personally own numerous properties (most are waterfront) in the adjacent communities and I’m certain this application will not negatively impact the value of my investments or anyone else’s investment in the area.

I look forward to the opportunity to develop a workforce housing community that can serve as a model for future projects in eastern Sussex County. Thank you for your consideration.

• HOA Covenants Draft - from page 562 to 605

• Finding of Fact - Page 606

• Conditions of Approval - page 609

Final Site Plan (Submitted for 7/23/2020 P&Z Meeting - removed from Agenda by P&Z Director)

The Final, Final Plan Submitted for and Approved by P&Z on 8/13/2020

Packet

https://sussexcountyde.gov/sites/default/files/packets/08-13-20%20Paperless%20Packet_0.pdf

• 2020-12-20 Entrance Plan from page 77

• 2020-04-21 Detail Grading Plan from page 120

• 2020-07-02 Stormwater Management Plan from page 134

• 2020-07-02 Sediment and Stormwater Management Plans from page 171

• 2020-07-02 Landscaping from page 187

• 2020-07-02 Record Plan from page 192

• 2020-07-23 Sussex Conservation District from page 197