Town Council - public_hearing

Yeah. Yeah, but once they put all the infrastructure in place, they can't change things. So then, I said, all right, I've got a plan for putting the key in place. Hey, hey. Yeah, so can we get a key? So how are you doing tonight? Okay, yeah, no, we do. But we should probably all have a discussion about it.

Can I have your attention? We're gonna start our public hearing at 6.30. I'll read the description and then you guys can take over. This is case number 2024-14 James Place, Sussex County tax parcels 135-1487. It's a rezone application, RPC residential plan community. And number two is review and approval of the RPC concept plan. An application by James Grant and Jordan Ashburn requesting the following amendment to the town of Georgetown's official zoning map for one parcel totaling 21.92 plus or minus acres. from UR1 to residential plan community RPC superimposed over urban residential UR1 and the review and approval of the RPC concept plan. So, take it away, gentlemen.

Good evening. I want to click it.

This one right here. On the side.

for the record my name is david hutt i'm a local attorney here on market west market street in georgetown with the law firm of mars james this evening i am representing the applicants jordan ashburn who's sitting right here to my right to your left as you look at me as well as james grant involved with the project is the pinoni group the principal land planner mark davidson who i think you're familiar with is sitting next to mr ashburn and then in the back row is Alan Dechter, who's a professional engineer and the engineer for this project. This evening is not the first time that this application has been in front of the mayor and town council. A little more than a year ago, this same property was in front of the mayor and town council with a request for the town to consider changing the future land use map designation for this property from single family residential to mixed residential. That process began with a request to the Planning Commission to consider whether this was going to be a minor variation and follow the minor variation process through the town. The Planning Commission confirmed that. And after the Planning Commission confirmed it would be the minor process, then the application was filed. and the office of state planning coordination weighed in and agreed with that determination and ultimately last may may 27th of 2025 this council adopted ordinance 2025-04 which approved the change of the designation of this property again from single-family residential to mixed residential I wanted to quickly review that process at the beginning of the meeting here because throughout that process, the future land use map amendment process, whether we were in front of the planning commission or in front of the mayor and town council, the stated purpose during each one of those meetings was to change the future land use map designation to mixed residential so that the property could have an RPC overlay district over top of the existing zoning. and i say all that to say that means that in short this evening's application and what the mayor and town council are considering is just the fulfillment of that process it's the next step along the way The property itself is 21.92 acres on North Bedford Street extended. If you were headed away from the circle right now towards North Georgetown Elementary School, this property would be on your right just before you got to the school itself. In fact, if that doesn't orient everyone, the property is directly across from Gordy Road, which, as everyone knows, used to be the back way to Royal Farms and Arby's before they were demolished by Delta. you can see the property on the screen it's outlined and the name of the proposed community is shown there also on the screens is the town's zoning map overlaid over the various parcels just to help orient everyone the green color on the zoning map is the town's ur1 urban residential district the tan is north georgetown elementary school which is the The white areas that you see on the right hand side of the screen and near the top are Sussex County or the unincorporated areas of Sussex County outside the town's municipal limits. And then the pink or purple area that you see running on both sides of Route 113 is the town's highway commercial. And of course, that's where Walmart and a number of other retail establishments are located. Working around the property, again in a clockwise fashion, the use of the land that surrounds the property immediately north or up from the property as you look at the screen are properties that are used in a residential manner and also agriculturally. To the right or east of the property is the Pennsylvania Lines Railroad and of course on the other side of that is some wooded areas that are in Sussex County. Immediately south of the property, you can see, or below the property, you can see a little area that's unshaded or white. Again, that would be a property that's in Sussex County and not in the town. And then the balance you see there is used residentially, which is the Carriage Place community. The switching on the other side of North Bedford Street, you can see there's more residential homes and more UR1 zoning designation there. The mixed residential zoning or future land use map designation was supported by a number of factors. Again, it went through a public hearing process here in the town, both the planning commission, as well as mayor and town council was considered by the office of state planning coordination, but just at a very high level, a couple of the features that led to that change where that it is designated on the 2025 state strategies map, As level one and what that means is that those are areas where the state anticipates and encourages and supports growth in the near-term future So something a project like this is supported through that process in addition this area of North Bedford Street extended which is on the Angled Road here, just at the very left-hand side of the screens as you look around the room, is considered a major collector by DelDOT, which means that it's a more significant roadway than some certain other types of designations by DelDOT. The designation on the future land use map, again, it has stayed residential. It just moved from single-family residential to mixed residential with the town's adoption of the ordinance last year. The goal with this RPC overlay is fairly simple. First is to provide more housing options within this community rather than just all being single family homes. And secondly, the RPC process allows for a better or superior design. The end result of that process that's being considered by the town council tonight is a community that would hopefully be named as James Place with 96 residential units. 51 of those are single family detached homes. On the image, they're shaded in a yellow color. 26 would be duplexes, which are closer to an orange color, and then 19 townhomes immediately adjacent to where the railroad tracks are, and those are on the far right and are a reddish color on the screen. As I mentioned, this rpc overlay allows for the opportunity to create all those different housing styles and options and also of course required the mixed residential designation designation on the future land use map if it weren't for that change in the designation then all of the units would just have been single family detached homes meeting the minimum lot size requirements for the ur1 district As I said, this process began some time ago. In fact, it was basically two years ago that this process began. In August, the Planning Commission considered whether or not it was going to be a minor variation request. In September, the Office of State Planning Coordination waited. And we talked about the May 27th ordinance adopted by the town. And then ultimately, that, of course, allowed the RPC application to be filed, bringing that full circle to most recently, just a couple of months ago in May, the planning commission considered the same application that's here in front of the mayor and town council this evening. And at that time, by a vote of four to zero, the Planning Commission recommended approval of the change of zone designation on the zoning map with two conditions. And those two conditions related to the contributions for emergency services that were proffered by the applicant and also looking for places to provide additional parking within the community itself. The town's code itself best describes the concept, purpose, and procedures for the RPC district. In Section 230-75.1, the code describes an RPC as follows. as being a concept which encourages and permits variation in residential development by allowing deviation of lot size, bulk requirements or type of dwelling, lot coverage and open space from that which is required in any one residential district to encourage design flexibility and coordination of architectural style of building streets, lighting, signage, landscaping in the existing neighborhood and historic and land development patterns. Again, that talks about that design flexibility that the RPC provides. The code then has a purpose and has a number of factors regarding the purpose of the code. I'm not going to review all nine of those with you here this evening as that would take some time. But at a very high level, the first is flexibility and design and you can see there's a, A flexible design is shown here. There's a central pond that you can see that not only functions as stormwater management for the site, but also is an amenity. The second purpose of an RPC district is the accumulation of large areas of usable open space. The plan that you see shows 7.85 acres of open space, which is 35.9% of the site, which is much greater than the open space that would occur if this were just a straight UR1, a single family home community. the third purpose for the rpc is the creation of a variety of residential and compatible neighborhood arrangements that give the home occupant greater choice in selecting types of environment and living units and that's really the heart or the essence of this application rather than just being a community of all single-family detached homes there's a mixture of those that we talked about earlier the single-family detached duplexes, and townhomes all within this one community. In addition, you will hear a little bit later during the public hearing from Habitat for Humanity regarding an arrangement to help people be able to afford to buy homes within this community. The fourth factor for an RPC is to cluster residential types for better use of land and open space. And importantly, one of the requirements in your code is that the resulting density of the RPC district can't be any greater than if you just developed it as all single family detached homes. And just as a matter of raw numbers, if this were developed as a straight UR1 community, there would be 131 lots that would be allowed, again, if you just do the math of the number of acres by the minimum lot size. When you try to calculate density in RPC, there are certain things that get deducted from that. So it results in a net type density or net developable area. And in that context, this community would, or this property rather, would allow 108 units using the RPC calculation. As I mentioned a few moments ago, what's proposed is less than either one of those numbers. It's 96 units. certainly meets that purpose of the RPC code as the resulting density is not greater than what the single-family detached homes would be. It's actually, in fact, less than that. The fifth factor and the last one I'm going to talk about under this section is the allowance of sufficient freedom for the developer to take a creative approach to the use of land and related physical developments as well as utilizing innovative techniques to enhance the visual character of the town. And very quickly, you can see that where Carriage Place is, there are single family homes that back up to that. So you have two compatible home types, as they're the same type of single family detached homes, that would be adjacent to each other. And then the town homes are situated at the rear of this site, adjacent to the railroad tracks. And then the duplexes, again, they're situated next to what is currently an agricultural field. So that's part of that freedom that the developer has to arrange things to try to accommodate what's around the property. In addition, That creativity allowed for that central pond that acts, again, as stormwater management and an amenity. But that also means that all of the lots that are on the internal part of the proposed community, they all back up to, or the rear portions of those properties are all situated around this pond, which will be a wet pond for, again, it'll aesthetically look good for the streetscape, and in addition will handle stormwater management for the community. In short, the RPC that's proposed increases the open space versus standard UR1 subdivision. It also increases the types of housing. There are now three housing options that would be available. There is a A PROPOSED MODIFICATION WHEN I READ THE PURPOSE OF THE RPC, IT DID TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE IS A VARIATION AND ALLOWS DEVIATION IN LOT SIZE, BULK REQUIREMENTS, OR TYPES OF DWELLINGS AND LOT COVERAGE. AND THAT FOR THIS COMMUNITY, RATHER THAN THE 10-FOOT SIDE YARD SETBACK IN THE UR1 DISTRICT, WHAT IS PROPOSED IS SIX FEET. And the reasons are there and they were within the narratives for that were presented with the application. If there are questions about that, we're certainly happy to to walk through that in more detail. In addition, There was, when this was reviewed by the town's engineer and his team, there were questions raised about the open space. And again, the open space, as it's now been designed, functions, has both a function as stormwater management, but then also functions as a place for, with a trail, connected trail system, that it is also an active amenity for the community, all of which matches the purpose of open space and common outdoor space. And again, ultimately, with this project, there's nearly eight acres, 7.85 acres of open space, which is 35.9% of the site. When the Planning Commission considered this application, As I mentioned, it recommended approval of the applications that are in front of the town council this evening with two conditions. The first condition was that the HOA documents that would govern this community needed to formally create the requirement for what the applicant had proffered, which is $25 per unit annually. for Georgetown, I'm sorry, $50 per unit to Georgetown EMS and $75 per unit annually to the Georgetown Fire Service. And that discussion was that that would be included in the restrictive covenants or the declaration for the community. That would be an ongoing obligation. As individuals move into those homes, part of their HOA dues would be to fulfill those requirements. The Planning Commission was concerned that at some point in time, the HOA would say, why don't we just vote this provision out of our restrictive covenants and so what was proposed was that the those restrictive covenants would if an amendment to that section was going to be proposed by the hoa they'd have to come back in front of the mayor and town council to get approval of that i assume we know what that answer would be if they were to make that type of application to the town so it would discourage that type of activity The second concern that the Planning Commission had was for additional parking within the community and through various places. There was 31 additional parking spaces that were added to this site plan. The proposed amendment that's in front of you this evening meets the purpose of both the comprehensive plan and the zoning ordinance. As we saw in earlier slides, this is a location designated as a level one area by the state of Delaware on the state strategies map. It's right next to a major collector road on DelDOT's classification of roadways. It's consistent with the goals and objectives of the RPC district that are set forth in the zoning code. It's consistent with the goals and objectives of the comprehensive plan. And all of this consistency with these various planning tools promotes the growth and development through a superior living environment. We talked about the location of the lots with respect to some of the design features. And the result is the continued use of this property as a residential property, again, whether it's UR1 or UR1 with an RPC overlay, it has a residential use. But with the RPC overlay, you're going to get varied housing options, varied price points, and so where residential uses can now exist, they would still exist, but with greater flexibility for the types of people that can afford a home and be able to purchase a home within the community. for all these reasons we would ask that mayor and town council adopt the planning commission's recommendation approving the amendment to the town's zoning map for this rpc overlay approving the concept plan with the modifications to the bulk area requirements that were proposed by the applicant as well as adopting the conditions that were described by the planning commission as part of its process That concludes the applicant's presentation. Myself and the rest of the team are happy to answer any questions that the mayor or town council may have.

Council questions? What's the width of the streets?

I believe they are 50 and 60 feet wide. But I'll ask my engineer to confirm that.

OK.

Hello, my name is Alan Dechter. I'm a professional engineer with Pannoni Associates. And you asked the width of the street?

The width of the street, yes.

Yeah, so the internal width of the street is 24 feet wide. 24. The right of way? Yeah, the right of way is 50 feet.

OK. There's sidewalks. Are there sidewalks included on this?

Yeah, sidewalks on both sides of the road, and then walking trails around the pond that connect to the sidewalk.

OK. One other, I've been doing some research on an RPC and what are some of the other amenities that are available?

So between the code requirements of passive and active amenities, we have a combination of the walking trails, the wet pond with water features, tot lot and conservation areas, which are wooded sections that would remain. So those are the various amenities that are, you know, the code requires, you know, two or three of each type. And that's what we're proposing on this community.

Okay. So you have a tot lot?

Yes. Okay.

All right. Are there buffers out front? It's kind of hard to see. Any kind of buffering in the front of the development? Kind of hard to see on that drawing. Okay.

Yeah, all of this is .

Okay, all right. And the RPC makes comment about either side parking or rear parking, which this will have no rear parking, correct? It's all side or front parking? Yeah, yes. Okay, all right.

okay all right kenyo any questions no i think it'll clean up that property yeah michael no no okay tony talk about habitat coming coming to homes the final number has not been determined yet it's up to 20 homes but i'll let mr gilmore speak to that when he addresses the mayor and town council I know they have a letter within the package of materials for the town this evening.

Okay. I think that's it. You want to talk about habitat?

Good evening. Just a brief note of support. Thank you, Mayor and Council, for hearing this. For the past 35 years, Habitat for Humanity has been a leading actor in developing workforce housing in Sussex County, creating over 210 homes, including 43 in the town of Georgetown. These get sold to hardworking, dependable residents in our county. When the owners of James Place approached us and this conversation started even before the activities here started about the idea of being part of this to help create workforce housing owner-occupied homes in this community, we were certainly eager to participate. Our home ownership program has provided over 700 individuals with affordable housing, 500 of them being children. We really feel like creating strong workforce housing opportunities for people, and as we all know, way too many people pay way too much money for their housing. We can help level that playing field. As mentioned, this project anticipates us what already anticipates without us, providing various types of homes at various price points. What Habitat can offer with the potential of 20 homes is creating homes that fit within the look of the community, but because of our nonprofit mortgage, we're able to make them at more price points than the builder could do at market rate. So we support this application for rezoning and the proposed RPC concept plan. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. All right, that concludes our public hearing. The record will stay open for 14 days.

Anybody else have any?

Any other public comment? No? Okay, the record will stay open, I believe, for 14 days for public comment. Thank you. All right, now to move on, I need a motion to enter into executive session.

So moved.

Thank you. Do I have a second?

Second.

All right, all in favor? Aye. Aye. All right, opposed? All right, motion carried.

We'll be right back.

Thank you. Amen.

719, and if everyone will rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for the invocation. Thank you.

Eternal God, we just continue to thank you for your love, your kindness, your mercy. We thank you again for allowing us to come here one more time. We ask you, God, to wisdom and knowledge, God, to get through this night. We thank you, God, for even a beautiful heat day today, God, that you brought us through. So we ask you right now, God, bring us to peace tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen, amen.

Amen. All right, the next item on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda. Is there any changes, deletions, anything? No. Can I have a motion to adopt the agenda?

So moved.

Thank you. Do I have a second?

Second.

All right. Thank you. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passed. Adoption. The agenda was adopted. Okay. The fourth is possible action on items discussed in executive session. There was no, we don't need a motion because no action was taken. So item number five, approval of the minutes. July 27th. 2026 town council minutes any additions deletions anything for council if not i'll entertain a motion so moved i gotta i have a motion do i have a second second i have a second all in favor say aye aye aye opposed all right minutes passed public comment Now is the time to hear from our public. We welcome your comments, which are very important to us. Note that all comments are limited to three minutes. As a reminder, please go to the podium to comment. Please give your name, address, and your remarks to the chair. Note that we will not be entering into a dialogue at this time. The purpose of this agenda item is for you, the public, to inform us, the council, about your views. All right, so public comment is open. Anyone want to step up and make a comment? Well, you are sunny.

Sunny Giani. I don't live in the city. I live outside the city, but I love the city. I chose this to be my hometown and probably one of the large landholders in this town. I've got about 20 acres in this town, so I have interest in this town. So I'm not just blowing smoke uh... i'm sure the council and uh... the new mayor has heard it but you know I always complain about affordable housing. It's not a rocket science. The only way the prices will get down is you build affordable housing. If you build more housing, the prices will come down. If you don't build housing and you come up with a process where you can stop building houses, The prices are going to be always up. I think Kevin left. He'll probably tell you he gets a better deal because he gets some of the USDA and other people give him a better interest rate and better material cost, and some of them are donations. But as a builder, I can tell you no matter who it is, the big builders, small builders, the cost of material is about the same. It might be 5%, 10% difference. But the cost of a house is only going to come down if there is a subsidy in it. So I just want the council and the mayor to understand that the only way you're going to be able to do the price to come down, make it affordable, is by building the homes. So that's one of the issues which I wanted to let you know. Don't stop building. Keep building more and when they're a guy enough of them the prices will come down. Thank you.

All right.

Thank you Anyone else public comment 262 North Dupont Boulevard Georgetown I was watching the last meetings on the YouTube channel, and I see where a lot of people was against the tiny living housing thing. You were giving some wrong information about that. The price of rent on those, I spoke to them myself, it's $900 for a one-bedroom. It's rent to own. That's with water and trash included. It's $1,000 a month for the two bedrooms, but for law students, you can turn it into a third bedroom. and that's with the water and trash also included. Everything that's good to help the people that's low income here, Georgetown doesn't want it. You need to have it here. We have a growing homeless population here. You've been back there yourself. You've seen it. You even refer to it as looking into a glass ant farm with all the trails. That problem's not going to go away. Instead of us trying to push these people out or push it on the smallest problem, we need to deal with the problem ourself and figure out a way. Low-income housing is the way. I've been talking to a state senator who represents this district here, and it's a law that's got to be 20%. of low-income housing built in the community, or they don't fund a lot of projects that are going on here. I keep seeing a lot of projects, like that new housing thing that they're going to be building. Habitat for Humanity guys said that they will help the hard-working person. I've dealt with Habitat for Humanity before. A guy that makes minimum wage is still a hard-working person even though he's not making a lot of money, but yet they don't meet the guidelines for Habitat for Humanity to afford the housing. So we need low-income housing in this town to get people out of these woods. And, I mean, people keep complaining about people being in the woods and the trash. One way to get rid of that is build affordable housing and get more job education for people like them and mental health needs for them to be able to get out of the woods. Thank you.

All right. Thank you.

hi shelley wise old park avenue i was asked to read this tonight because this person couldn't be here so here i go to members of council and mayor townsend this letter is being read by shelley wise for me tonight since i am unable to be present my name my name is emily fehlenbaum i have been a resident of georgetown for over 30 years of my life having grown up here and now raising children of my own in this town i have a unique perspective on its issues i became involved during the last mayoral election because I wanted to see this town change for the better. I have worked tirelessly with another Georgetown mother to bring a farmer's market to life for our residents and local vendors. I would like to express my disappointment in the members of council who received my email regarding an upcoming event for Georgetown farmers and friends. You were invited to be judges for a children's art contest and to come and see what the market is like. I gave ample notice. I am saddened to report that I received not a single response from one of you. I have worked in professional environments for my entire adult life. I have a master's degree in clinical social work and run a small business of our own. I would never not respond to a legitimate email, even if I was unable to attend. is professional courtesy to respond and takes less than five minutes. None of you, aside from Mayor Townsend, has been supported of this market or the concerts. What are you doing to get out in the community and meet with your constituents? You ran for these positions and wanted to see Georgetown become great again. That starts with showing up, even when you're tired, even when you don't feel like it. Please know that none of this was written with malice. I want to see this town succeed, and that includes our elected officials communicating with the community and showing up to more than just council meetings. Thank you for your time. That's what she wanted to say.

Thank you. Anyone else? All right, we're going to move on. Councilman's comments. Who wants to start? Let's start with Penuel.

It's great seeing everyone here tonight. Thank you.

That was short and sweet. Michael?

Yeah, good to see everybody. Hopefully everybody stayed cool, and this rain cools people down, so it's pretty hot out there.

Thank you. Tony?

Just glad to see everybody tonight. Thank you.

All right, thank you.

All right, I have some notices, which I always do. I've been busy again this week. I went to the Little League Senior Girls opening ceremonies. Saw all the teams there. And we were there for the final game last night. The girls lost six to four. But they gave it a hell of a good fight. They have so much talent on that team. Excuse me. I said a bad word. I know. Sorry. Um, but they put up a good fight and they were so, so talented. Um, we thought they were going to come back a lot of support, a lot of people. And I know the girls aren't just from Georgetown, but they're Georgetown girls. and I would love for them to be here on the 24th. I'm gonna talk to Gene and maybe give a certificate from the town in appreciation for everything they did in representing Sussex County and for Georgetown. And National Night Out, I saw Tony there and Michael was there. And, Daniel, were you there? okay you get you get a pass then um they said it was one of the biggest events we've had for national night out and of course chief was there police department did a tremendous job so thank you thank you kids loved all the toys that they handed out oh yes um look like christmas um i also went to the first baptist church here in georgetown um We had a small prayer session for Love, Inc. They're going to have a case manager. And we are meeting with the police department on Wednesday. And so Love, Inc. gets to know our police officers if anything should arise out there and they need help. But it was very interesting to talk to Love, Inc. and what they want to bring to Georgetown. And they're very successful in Seaford. They have a good success rate, I should say. I think they're up to 88 participants now, so. I went out to see Sun Behavioral. I met the new CEO of Sun Behavioral. She was very welcoming, gave us a tour that was very interesting and I've also asked her to come to the meeting on the 24th and give a presentation because Sun Behavioral was not looked at favorably when they first appeared and they have not been, especially they put a drain on our ambulance service. but they want to change that. So I want them to come and make a presentation so we all can meet some behavioral and the new CEO, the new administration there, and just find out more about them. Of course this week on the August 11th and the 13th we have more concerts out to Revelations. We have an open house of the Georgetown Historical Society on this Saturday and also you have an event this Saturday, right Tony? Yes. Yes. What's your hours for that event? You want to say anything about it?

11 from 11 o'clock to three o'clock anti-drug march this is 33rd year so all is welcome everything free don't cost about nothing first 300 people get free t-shirts

There you go, there you go. And I participated in the walk. Oh, yes. One year, yes. It was very satisfying. I met with the governor at Vanderwinds. I got a lot of criticism because he's a Democrat and I'm a Republican, even though we don't go into politics in town. But he said, what are your concerns? And I said, the homeless. We have a big homeless problem in Georgetown, and we need to fix it. We need to work on it. So I'm meeting with his aide on the 21st, John Kane. I'm going to be meeting with him, and he wants to sit down and talk about the homeless situation, what they can do to help. and how we can address it and look at it. And I want to form a financial advisory committee. I've been looking at our budget. Our budget to me is kind of hard to figure out and get acquainted with. So I want to ask for some financial advisors in the community that will step up to the plate. Maybe there's a different way to invest our money or spend our money or look three years down the road or five years down the road or seven years down the road, what our expenses are going to be and what our income is going to be. So I think it'd be advantageous to us as a town to look at our finances more and get a hold on that. And we have been invited, myself and my staff, I'm not quite sure who my staff is, I believe it's council and maybe some town employees, have been invited to tour the great outdoor cottages out to the airport. They make tiny homes. So I have been invited to go out and tour that. So I'm kind of excited about that. I even thought about maybe the tiny cottages here in town, but they're considered a three season home, not a four season home. according so they would not qualify for our building code unless they can adapt the homes and make them a four season home versus a three season home so that's what i learned today so that's what i've been doing and so i've been busy so thank you all right let's move on sandhill fields community event gearson here's here's a clicker You want me to click for you? Oh, please. All right, you let me know when you want me to click.

Yes, just give me a minute. Good evening, everyone. My name is Gerson Wilkes. We represent Perry and Mario. We represent the soccer organization in town. We play in St. Hill Fields. We've been there since the first day. that St. Hugh opened its doors. We promote sports for youths, for ladies, for veterans, and for adults. We play every Sunday. And at the end of the season, we usually, we've been doing a festival to celebrate, you know, the championship game and also to celebrate the independence for Mexico and Central America. And we've been doing it also for several years. However, we wanted to see not just the members of the league, you know, show to the festival. We wanted to open it to the entire community. We want to see the different communities that the town had. And so we had a proposal that we've been thinking and And talking about it, we wanted to do it free and for the entire community. Like I said, we wanted to open that just for our members. And we do it at Sand Hill. So today we had a presentation. And so Perry is going to help us out with the presentation to see if we can do it together with the town. And so this event, it will be for next month, for September. So Perry, if you don't mind, please.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Perry Kelly. I've been with this league for, I guess, roughly 12 years. The last few years I've become part of the board. I bring in some soccer expertise. I'm a USSF official. I officiate college. I've done soccer for 37 years. I just came from our Maryland meeting where I'm the president of the association. But over the years, I got to know these guys, and I like working with them, and I like working with the community. And we have discussed this festival. As you can see, we had come up with some names, the Hispanic American Community Festival. We're hoping that conveys a good message to the people that they can understand what it's all about. You can go to, thank you. We came up with the Hispanic American Community Festival. We also have other options if, This one we came up with is not agreeable. But it's basically a theme idea. It's one community, many cultures, and I don't speak Spanish, so . So anyway, that's what we're trying to do here. We've done festivals in the past, and it's been pretty successful. We can go to the next one, I guess. Thank you. The whole idea, the concept of it is to be free and accessible, family first, and culture and community. Over the years, I've gotten to know a lot of the people in not just Georgetown, but in the surrounding communities. And it's really nice people. I'm glad I got to know a lot of the people involved with the organization. But the goal was not to only hold a festival. It was to create a Georgetown tradition. This is not just a one-year thing. Possibly, hopefully in the future, we can continue it. But we have a growing soccer, youth soccer organization within our group, within La Superliga. And the kids, we separate ourselves from some of the other leagues by having kids and a women's division, things like that. So we can get to them. Sorry. If some of you have never been out to Sand Hill, this is basically out of the fields. The proposed date is September 13th, 2026. Free admission. This is what we hope the families will experience. We have a main stage where there will be music and DJs and cultural performances. Kids zones, you know, typical kids zone stuff, you know, Clowns and things like that. Food market. Latin American favorites and American classics. Soccer zone, we're planning on having some kids games. Correct. Maybe some skill type stuff. I don't know if you've seen them. You can shoot on the boards and stuff. Does anybody have kids, grandkids that play soccer? I'm sure you do. The community row, where we hope that local nonprofits and time resources and sponsors will have exposure. People can talk to them. Cultural space, similar to some of the Indian type stuff they do here in Delaware. Folklore, flags, traditions, you know, just expose people to different cultures. This is basically what's happening on the main stage. As we transition from Presentation to presentation, we'll have a DJ with some music, family-friendly stuff. People can enjoy themselves. We want to recognize the participating countries and community organizations as well on the stage, and maybe some youth performers as well. This is one of my favorites. I didn't know what a pupusa was, so I started playing soccer out there. But that's Latin American empanadas, the tamales, the desserts. They'll get exposure to that. It's a great thing to try. And then, of course, you know, American baseball hot dogs, hot dogs, burgers, fries. Some of the kids and families will be, like we mentioned before, inflatables, the entertainment, youth soccer, and a safe space for the kids to have a little fun. Okay, this is the proposed layout. You can see, has everybody here been out to the Sandhill Fields? So anyway, that's the main parking lot where we'll have the food. Soccer will be the four fields, and then we'll have things set up in the back.

That's okay.

I'm not. We have public restrooms there. We do have plans for, you know, in case inclement weather or whatever may happen, people can get out safely. Vendors, traffic and parking will provide attendance. That will help. Restrooms, all that stuff will be kept clean. I may even be doing some of that myself. Volunteers, that's crucial, this one, because we do need volunteers to help keep the cost down.

Okay, do you want to talk about this one? Okay.

All right, so here's what we're seeking guidance and collaboration with the community. Maybe some event guidance. You know, we need your town approval. helping us with applicable regulations, coordinate with traffic and safety, which would involve police, help us to communicate the event to the local communities and surrounding areas. And then that's basically it, all that. OK. This is the proposed next steps. I think this is more in your expertise. We want to start as soon as possible. Open the sponsor, vendor, performer, get all that lined up. Late August, finalize the layout, safety plan. September, confirm everything and have this thing on September 13th. This is the proposed budget, estimated cost, expenses. As you can see, there's quite a bit of money involved. But we're trying to keep it free for everyone, and it will be free for everyone. That will be done with sponsorships, vendor participation, community partnerships, and time support. That'll help lay off all the, not lay off, but help offset the cost. I think we have another one. This is just a picture of some of the festivals we've had. In the past, they've had some really big names. I couldn't tell you any of the names of the bands, but this is our security guys on the bottom.

I think his name is, is his name Delio?

And then, of course, you know, kids having fun. Okay. Basic messages, one community, many cultures. Any questions? I can...

Okay. Would you like to ask a question, Sonny? Then you go ahead. Can you step up to the mic and ask the question? I've had people at home that can't hear.

Okay. Oh, I can hear.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sonny.

There are two questions.

They can hear it, but I just wanted to make sure. First one is, how does it make any different than what Kevin puts it up on North Race? He charges about $10 or something, whatever I've been paying. So how does it make a difference? And you had a budget of at least about $20,000, $30,000. I saw $2,500, $2,500, or $20,000, let's say. So who is flipping up the bill? I know the chief is figuring it out how many over time. He has to put it up. City have to eat up some of the cost, but there is a cost involved. Who is putting it up, that cost? And how is it different than what the North Face Kevin stuff?

Yeah, well, the main idea of this is that we wanted to do it free. And we also like to open the doors for more local talent. Like I said, we have done this in the past, and we have bring bands from outside, from Mexico and from Guatemala. It just cost a lot of money, and it's only designed to our community because they know these bands. That's why we wanted to change it this year. We want to open the doors for the local bands, for people that live in Georgetown.

And the timing is about the same? He does it around the same times, too.

Yeah, it will be during daytime and it will be a week before he does his event, yeah. Gotcha.

So you're going to take attendance before you go out. So that was a little bit of a question.

Yeah, so like I said, you know, the main idea is we wanted to open the doors to the local events. I know there's a lot of local artists and the second thing is that we wanted to open this. We have done it before. But we want to open the doors to the other cultures to come and join us to try this food and enjoy the, not just bands, but folklore. We like to bring also groups of folklore that, you know, Mexican dancers and Hispanic dancers.

Very good idea. Very good idea. A lot of families, many kids have difficulty paying their fees. It makes a big difference.

And the cost that we're trying to do is to reduce our cost. We wanted to open the doors also for food vendors, not just for Mexican food or Hispanic food, but also if somebody wants to bring hot dogs or hamburgers, open to everybody. And so that's where we're trying to collect, that's where we will get the money to pay whatever it's going to cost us. But we're trying to save some expenses, like we have to rent the, we rent St. Hill Fields to play every Sunday. When we do our event, we also rent the facilities, and they charge $2,500. The last time, that's what they did, the church. Somehow, I know that you guys do concerts there, so maybe you have a way to get to them. They want churches, and that will help us to keep the cost down.

I went out there one Sunday. Clayton and I went out. Gerson was a big supporter of mine when I ran for mayor. And when I went out, he said, I'd love to have an event out of here and make it free, but for the whole town, because we're supposed to be a community, you know, and, you know, it seems like the other event that takes place, most Hispanics go to that. I don't know how many I'll call us Americans go to that. Uh, and there might be quite a few. I don't know. I've never been. But I love the idea when Garrison said he wanted to have a free event for the whole community and involve everyone and make them welcome to be out there. So thank you.

Yes.

Huh?

I am the Debbie Downer. Yes. Nothing is free.

Correct.

And you made it a point that I blew my budget out of the water with overtime. These special events are not free. All you have to do is watch the news and see how large scale events are being targeted by individuals which requires police services. So I'm not trying to say no. What I'm saying is, I noticed on it, this event isn't just happening this year. We've worked this event for at least three years. One question I have, are you selling alcohol?

That's a good thing.

Because in previous years, and I'm not saying it's his fault, but the vendor who was selling the alcohol was supposed to be selling only what they could carry, two at the most. They were getting bags of 12 packs and were getting charged exorbitant prices and they were still buying them. And then we had multiple DUIs, multiple hit and runs in the parking lot for people hitting cars. Again, not saying that's his fault, But we can't, I noticed on there where it says town provided, which means all the overtime of the officers standing out there participating in this event comes out of my budget, which was not budgeted. We don't have a special events budget, I just have an overtime budget. We have more officers this year than we've had previously, so certainly we should have more people that can work the event. But that's not free. And so that's my only concern. He's answered one of the main questions, no alcohol. That would be much appreciated, a lot less work for the security he provides and for the police department. You know, security kind of just moves them off the event area. And then, of course, that puts them right at our front doorstep that we have to deal with. I want to say I'm not against another community event. I just want the council to be aware that that's not free for us. Those officers cannot volunteer their time to be there, and it would be negligent of me and everybody on the council if we did not provide security, police security, for an event of that scale.

So I just want the council to... Garrison, what were the hours?

The hours will be from, I say maybe from 12 to 6. 12 to 6. Or 11 to 6. It will be, yeah. Okay. Like I said before, it's been a little longer and there's some concerns about the sound. And this is a Sunday, right? Yeah. On a Sunday. 12 to 6. Okay. And it will be, we will have also sports. That's why this year we wanted to change the whole concept. And like I said, we will bring more local community and local events. Like in the past, we have bring some exterior events. from outside, and that's a big difference. This time we'd like to do more folklore, more like to show what our culture is really about, our Hispanic culture, and we wanted to show more of that. So it will be a little different. Like I said, the first thing is no alcohol. It's more directly to the kids and community.

Well, when you sit down for your planning sessions, make sure you call Rusty, the chief, and have him involved.

And I do want to say in previous festivals that he's had out there, great bands, great atmosphere, great food. That was all good. The alcohol was a major contributing factor to every incident that we had to deal with. Right. And so that was my only concern. And then also, the cost associated with it. When we have contracted services, the person is paying for those police services to be there. And so, not necessarily unrelated to this festival, but for future, I think we have an issue with non-payment. And the police department cannot act as a debt collection service. We're wearing guns and that's inappropriate. So there must be some kind of process where these people want to have events and we determine the number of officers. And I will say I've been very generous. Four officers at an event with hundreds of people drinking alcohol is dangerous for the four officers. So I just want to say that there should be a process where we determine how many officers are going to be needed for that event, and then whatever that price is, our contracted rate is $90 per hour, and figure out what that cost is going to be, and there should be some consideration of getting that paid on the front end And if there's overage, then that gets added through an invoice. The other thing is his event, when he says 11 to 6, his bands might stop playing at 6. That crowd is not all leaving at 6, although there will be a mass exodus, which means now I have officers who have, as of last year, had drunks who were fighting each other, and drunk drivers leaving without any kind of traffic control out there in the front. So we need to consider that. Our job will not be from 11 to 6. Our job will be before people get there, and our job will be after they leave, depending on how long that takes. So it's just another consideration. I wish I could do it for free. I would volunteer to be there for free. I've been to the festivals out at Sand Hill Fields. Like I said, it was a great atmosphere, except for the alcohol.

All right. Thank you.

We've got a festival the 13th and the 20th. I think the 20th is, does Kevin pay us?

So Kevin does is he gives a donation. And I hope to be fair to everybody that donation does not equal what it costs the town of Georgetown. to provide police services. Of course, the stage is right outside the police department, so we have to be there. And then the other thing he does is he provides opportunities on his radio station. Joel goes on his radio station quite a bit for PSA type discussions, different things that they do for the Hispanic community, because Joel, my lieutenant, speaks Spanish. So we get some in-kind and donations, but I will say that probably doesn't pay for everything. And I think part of that is maybe what Grisana is trying here is that the town sponsors or supports that event. And so if we sponsor this event, then he's thinking the same, probably the same thing. You know, that's a lot of money. It's a lot of money to pay an officer for seven to eight hours at $90 an hour times four officers.

Yeah, I mean, and the thing is, the property that Kevin's using is the towns because it's the street. the vendors set up on the street. He's charging the vendors. He's charging everyone that goes in there. So we should be charging him a fee for emergency services. I think it's a great idea. It brings people together, but you're right. I mean, our taxes went up this year. It's not fair that we keep giving away your time because it's worth.

Yeah, I can't, we can't do it for free. No. I can't ask officers to volunteer to do what they do to get paid, and it's in their contract. The other thing is, I will say that I believe Sand Hill Field charges a fee, right? Do they charge a fee for your festival?

Okay, okay.

So, okay. So I just want the council to consider that so that next year when I'm getting to talk to you about my budget, if it's over, it's really my fault. Because I just want to be clear about something. Not against community events at all. The problem is it's becoming a competition. So we only used to have one festival. Then all of a sudden we had two festivals. Then we had a one-day tournament out at the soccer fields on South Railroad Avenue. Now we have a one-day tournament where we provide police services out at Sand Hill Fields. Back and forth, now we've got people who, as an example, there's a local school who is not actually housed within the limits of Georgetown, wants to have a parade through the town of Georgetown, from the little league fields to the middle school. That's not free. That's a lot of intersections and we have to have vehicles and cops at every one of those streets from that point to that point. That's not free and this is a bad year for it just because we have return day, which is a massive event. We'll have 172 cops working over those two days. That's not free. Thank you to the Delaware State Police and all our municipal agencies in Sussex County who provide that to us and that's why we help them. So we have to be careful about just allowing everybody to have an event of these scales because that has an impact on my budget and also the services that we can provide to other people. Yes, sir.

What is the budget we have and can we ask the council to increase it, but if we want to add more grants?

Well, I don't want to ask the council to increase it just because it's already been approved. And if I ask for an increase, they might ask for a decrease. So we're going to we're going to leave the budget alone for this year. And but we will concentrate on next year. But I'm just saying, like, we have to figure this out, whether it's through contracted services where people have to pay for our we can't just the town can't just sponsor every event at the expense of my my overtime budget.

I think we need to come up with a chart or something to have what that costs. So if somebody wants to have an event, let's say there's 500 people, you know as the chief that you need 25 officers there. So here's the cost for 500 people, here's the cost for 250 people, here's the cost for 1,000 people, and this is the rate. You don't have to put it in your budget, but you can be up front with them, this is what it's going to cost. At the end of the year, if you have 40 events, the town might make out in the good.

Well, and the other thing there we have to consider not just the number of people. A lot of people don't know how many people are going to show up to their event. It could be well attended if it's a nice sunny day. I think last year Wings and Wheels had a beautiful day and it was packed to the point where they had traffic from airport road running all the way into the circle. It was so backed up. So that's a consideration we have to have, but also alcohol sales. If alcohol sales are involved, I mean, literally, it should be almost double what I think would be safe. And even then, and I mean double, not the price, double officers, which, of course, is the price. So it can't just be a, if it's 500 people you expect, it's this much. If it's 499, it's this much, because everyone's going to say 498. So that's what I try to do as the chief is take a look at the event. There's a Hispanic festival out at Sand Hill Fields. It's not new. He's making a change to it. And so potentially it could even get more people. So we need to look at prior things. So he does have a security team there. So that's helpful because I do use that in my calculations. In town here, we don't have a security detail. It's all police that do that. And so we do have, I think we have six officers here and out at Sand Hill, I think I did four. But so we can't, what I'm saying is it can't just be a chart. It basically, I think the code now basically says the chief of police determines the amount of coverage. And like I said, I don't put my people in danger, but I do try to, if I make it cost prohibitive for the security aspect of it, and they don't have the event, then we don't have an event.

And it's your fault.

And then it's my fault. Yes.

Can you go in there and ask so people at home can hear you? Thank you.

I just wanted to ask, you said no alcohol sales, which is great, but is alcohol going to be prohibited from the event? And if it is, who's going to enforce that and how will it be enforced? That's it.

Thank you.

Yeah. Sandhill doesn't allow to bring alcohol unless it's a special permit. And like I said, we didn't ask for this permit for this year because we're not considering to have alcohol. We noticed that that creates some problems and that's what we're trying to prevent. And just one thing that I need to mention is that in the past when we had bring these big bands, these big bands because they are well-recognized, people come from outside. Hispanic people like from Philly, from Wilmington, from all over. And those are the ones that create much of the problem because they're not, they don't live in town. This year, with the change that we're doing, just with local events, we're only going to draw local community. I mean, I'm 100% sure that we won't be drawing people from out of the state. So that's going to help to keep more locally. And I don't consider that it's going to be thousands of people like before, but it's just more like a family event. That's what we wanted to create.

OK. All right.

And then my last suggestion to council is that if people are going to have events, that they should be clear of any debt to the town before their event is approved. So that money isn't necessarily going to my budget, like I can use it again type of thing, but it does offset our cost, which keeps me underneath my overtime budget. So I would just make that suggestion that maybe we consider before we do that, is the person in good standing with the town? And if they are, fine. And then we can work details out. Again, I'll support the event if the council wants to do that. I just want the council to understand it's not free. He is going to be paying bans. We are going to be paying officers. And what we don't want to be is in the news for bad things happening because we don't have any security.

Correct. Correct. Okay. All right. Okay, Council. What's everybody's feelings?

I think it's a good idea as long as everything's covered, like the chief said. Everything has to be, you know, public safety is a big thing out there. Right. What they dealt with last time with alcohol and stuff like that, that's a big concern, especially when you have people fighting in the parking lot and DUIs, you know, people drinking and driving and leaving the event not knowing what's going to happen after that, so.

Peniel?

no i have to agree um but i think it's got to be across the board if we if we charge for emergency services at sandhill fields we need to do the same on market street or not market street ray street um so we we need to come up with something with the chief to figure out how we're going to offset the cost yes okay but i think it's a great idea tony um

Well, me and Agahoe ain't the best friends, no way. So, I kind of agree with the Chief when it comes to the alcohol part, because like I said, I do my March every year, but we don't do, we don't act on, we don't do drugs. We stand against it. So my thought a little bit different towards some things, but even the police do headquarters, but we, you know, um, we don't, there's a lot of things that we don't do. So we try to keep most things right on that same property. But, um, I mean, alcohol is a big concern to me, so I go with the chief recommendation. That's how I go with it.

Okay. Gerson, do you understand what's in front of you?

I completely understand. That's why since the first time that we started talking about alcohol was the number one, the big change, no alcohol sales. Okay.

So I am going to appoint Rusty. to be your liaison. So you're going to work directly with Rusty in the planning aspect when you start having your meetings. So he can suggest the best way to go around it, what's needed for security. Are you up to the task? All right. There you go. All right. So Rusty will give you his contact and I'm sure you already have his contact information. But I think it would be a wonderful thing for the community if we can pull it off. All right. Thank you. All right, next item on the agenda is the second reading and adoption of ordinance 2026-04, the DDD incentives. Okay, let me try to get through this like Gene did the other last meeting. He made, he read all the changes. So in article two eligibility, A to 50 dash to under project. They added as modified by the town's renewal application approved by the cabinet committee on May 11th 2026. Section to 50 dash 6 business license fee waiver. The The annual town business license fee will be waived for the first five years in operation and they're striking new businesses only. And they added for new businesses and for businesses locating or relocating to the district for the first time. The next change is in section 250-10. All projects of a commercial nature will be afforded a 20% reduction in water and sewer impact fees. and they're striking at time of building permit issuance. And in B, projects of a mixed-use commercial residential neighborhood will be afforded a 35% reduction in water and sewer impact fees, and they're striking at time of building permit issuance. And they were striking Section C altogether. And section to 50 dash 11 all projects will be eligible to participate in the town sign facade and owning grant program and they're adding the policies for which may be amended from time to time. and the effective date, Article 5, Section 250-13. This ordinance became effective, they're striking November 16th, 2016, and they're adding as of the date of adoption of this ordinance. The provisions of this ordinance shall no longer apply after, and they're striking November 15th, 2026, And they're adding, three months after the final district designation expires, projects granted the property tax phase-in incentive during the effective period of this ordinance shall be permitted, run out the remainder of the phase-in cycle, notwithstanding the termination or expiration date of the district designation. Okay, so with those additions and deletions, do I have any discussion from council? If not, anybody want to entertain a motion to approve ordinance 2026-04, Downtown Development District Incentives? No one wants to make a motion?

Yeah, I'll make a motion to adopt it.

Okay, thank you.

Second.

All right, and I have a second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carried. All right, number 10. Discussion of possible recommendations from the Cottage Housing Committee and potential changes to Cottage Housing Ordinance. And I believe in your packet are the draft minutes from the Cottage Housing Ordinance Working Group, the recommendations. And we have a letter from, I believe, Lisa Ropling that was on the committee. And I have another letter here from Sunny Giani, a detailed statement. Is that from you, Sunny? Because there was no name. Yeah, okay. Yeah, no name. Okay. So, time for discussion. And I have two people that want to speak.

Would you like to go first, Reverend?

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, council members, and thank you, community leaders. I'm Reverend Eddie Jusino. I'm the pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Rehoboth Beach. You know that. I want to make a statement to clarify that I was not at the original meeting last month representing Westminster Presbyterian Church, although I'm the pastor. I'm representing ELRAC, which is an organization, not for profit, called Lewis and Rehoboth Beach Association of Congregations, and that includes also a synagogue, and we're about 12, houses of worship that work together to provide grants to organizations just like Love, Inc., which we gave a grant, as well as Springboard Delaware, which we also dedicated a grant for this particular project. So I'm speaking on their behalf, not on behalf of the parish, the pastor. So I'd like to clarify that because there's a significant difference in that sense, okay? I read the minutes, and I just want to bring to the attention, most likely you have this information already, but the National Housing Alliance of Delaware put a recent report. It really has hot out the press, and it really is revealing in the sense of what does it take for an affordable housing family to afford the type of housing that the James Project offers, which is a fantastic idea. Partnering with Habitat for Humanity is really a breakthrough. But nevertheless, they would have to be earning about $30-some dollars an hour. And we know that the minimum wage is $15. Habitat has three bedrooms, two baths. What we're talking about, the cottage, is basically one bedroom, one bath, maybe one and a half bedroom, two bath type. 500, 600 square feet of space. So you can think about how could they live in those situations. I'm glad that the mayor is going to be having a tour of the great Adventure Cottage Manufacturing Company. It's a fantastic place. I've been there before, and I'm totally, absolutely flipped of the craftsmanship that the workers in Georgetown do and the quality of materials that they use as well. But I just want to bring to the attention just a few facts that this report talks about, the number of districts, Senate districts, as well as housing district. And I'm just looking at the numbers just for Georgetown. And when we look at those numbers, there's an opportunity for the council members and the community to flip the situation, the current situation, in the town of Georgetown and the community of Georgetown. When I look at the Senate district affordability of housing, We're looking at 800, well, I'm not gonna bore you with numbers, but what it is illuminating is that there is a huge gap in terms of those who are paying for AMI reaching that 80%, that habitat, 60 to 80% habitat strikes. That's not the case with this project. The audience that they're trying to service are exactly that single individual, single mom that doesn't have that ability to reach that 80% level to be able to sustain an affordable housing. And that's the gap that they're filling. I could go on and on, but it's late. All I'm trying to do is to plea for the council is to understand the gap that this project feels for the community of Georgetown and the many members in Georgetown that don't have affordable rentals. This is not about selling a home. This is about renting an affordability space for them to be safe and clean and accountable so they can save money and be able then to have a reasonable life like you and I have. In the end, if you remember when I opened my comments last time, I used the parable of the Good Samaritan. You have been Good Samaritans already. You're doing it already. What we're asking you is to just not change the course and don't drop the ball now that you made so many great advances in this town. by affording the ordinance for this project to move forward. I'd like to close in with my comments and plea again. Next Sunday, by the way, the lectionary is about Jesus asking the disciples, who do you say I am? I'm going to be preaching on that. Who do you say I am? That is a foundational theological teaching for those of us who are Christian. But you don't have to be a Christian to ask the question, who do you say I am if you're a person of faith? The theological intersection here is about not just the faith driven of this project that undergives this project, but also the intersection also with the perspective of the town of Georgetown can offer, not just to Georgetown, but to the state of Delaware and beyond the state of Delaware. That intersection is what at stake tonight and forthcoming when the council sits down with that committee to make that choice. Who do you say that Georgetown is? And I want to bet that Georgetown is that good Samaritan. Give this project a chance. It's far in advance to change the course. And I plead with your hearts because I know you're doing the good job already. Let's just finish the race. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. I'm Judd Malone. I'm here to talk about the springboard project utilizing the cottage development zoning. The project is already underway. The application is already underway. It's on 14 acres of land inside the city limits of Georgetown. Approximately 120 homes. The homes are cottage homes. They are manufactured by Great Outdoor Cottage, or they will be. One point to clarify, the product that Great Outdoor Cottage builds can either be built to park model standards or to IRC standards. IRC is the International Residential Code, which Sussex County accepts as a legitimate housing code. The town of Georgetown is responsible for reviewing the site plan, but for resource constraints, they depend on the county's planning staff to review the housing codes. And the county already understands those codes. The cabins will be built to IRC standards. They're basically built in a factory, easy way to think about it. Number two, as I said, We have started the process of applying for a permitted use as outlined in the cottage community zoning. The town's charter or code outlines that the pre-development conference starts that process.

Judd, have you filed a preliminary site plan application?

We have not, we have filed that our plan, our preliminary plan is now with PLUS as required by your MOU with the state office of planning. And as soon as they have completed that review, it will be submitted to you, to Georgetown.

So just to clarify your status with the town, you've had a pre-development meeting, correct?

We've had a pre-development conference, correct.

But you did not submit a preliminary site plan application.

I haven't made that claim. I've only made the claim that we have started the process, as the count has outlined, what is the first step, and we have taken that.

Okay, I just want to clarify the current status, Cecil.

And it's my understanding that when the State Office of Planning completes their review at that time, we will be submitting it to the town with the expectation, under the current zoning, that they will review it. So I wanna talk for a minute about the state bill, SB23. The Cottage Community Zoning checks the box on three mandatory requirements of the new bill. Number one, increase residential density. This plan increases density to 12 units per acre The plan that we have developed actually does not utilize all that density because there's also requirements in there for open space, common areas, and things like that. And by the time you factor all that in, our net yield is about eight units per acre. But the most important point is it satisfies a state law that you start the process of increasing residential density. The underlying new R1 zone by itself will not meet that. It has to have the permitted cottage community code in order to create that opportunity for that kind of density. Number two, the state law requires a diversity of housing types, including cottages. So eventually you will be required to come up with zoning, but you're already ahead of the game. You've already done it. The third thing that is required is that you loosen the setback requirements so that you can have more flexibility to get more density, and the cottage pocket neighborhood zoning does that. So you've got, quite frankly, if you talk to planners, this is an award-winning zoning code. It is beautifully laid out into pocket neighborhoods. It creates a wonderful environment for community living, know your neighbor, walkable, safe, it's all there in the code. It would be a shame to throw away the staff time and energy and resource that's been put into developing this code just to start over to do the same thing because you're gonna have to meet the requirements anyway. So with that, this is a beautiful opportunity to create affordable living in Georgetown. We ask that you support it. We ask that you, if you choose to do whatever you want to do with zoning after the fact, respect the fact that there are those that played by the rules as they were written, We started the process as it was described in good faith. We have invested money and time and energy into the plan, and we feel like that we ought to be allowed to continue. Thank you very much.

Thank you. All right, Sonny, Gianni? Huh?

Sunny Giani, do not live in the city limits, but I love this town and I agree with a lot of stuff has been talked about the cottage livings. My biggest thing is I was there when they were talking about repealing it and I was basically told, you know, where do you live? So I just wanted to let them know that I don't live in the city limits. Don't repeal it. Fix the problem. Like he said, we already come all the way up here. You're going to send it back up here to start all over again. And I don't know how long will it take. It took us almost about a year, year and a half to get here. Okay, density is too high? Adjust it. Not a big deal. You know, make it low density. Need more oversight? That's fine. Protect neighborhood without eliminating housing options. We cannot demand affordable housing while removing the tools that create it. I remember the time when the election was there. I remember Mr. Briggs. I remember our mayor. We all talked about we want to get affordable housing, which is great, but do something about it. Don't destroy the process which was started by the previous administration. People who work here should have a fair opportunity to live here. if you eliminate cottage housing what replaces it once tell us what's going to replace it before you say we're going to repeal it great but what is there to replace it with doing nothing is still housing decisions all right so amend it strengthen it Don't repeal it. We can protect neighborhood and create housing. If people are concerned about how it looks, we can reduce the density, we can do more planning, we can do more trees, we can do all kind of stuff. So again, I got like six points here. Don't repeal the ordinance. Repealing would eliminate a critical tool of addressing our housing affordability crisis and move Georgetown backward. Amend it where necessary. If 12 units per acre is too high in certain areas, establish reasonable density standard based on the location, infrastructure, and surrounding neighborhood. Consider additional use as a compromise Conditional use as a compromise if you have to but conditional use basically throws a blanket on it and it just dies So I won't recommend that protect neighborhood character, strengthen design standard for setbacks, landscaping, parking, open space, architecture, and transition to ensure cottage communities fit their context. Know that some of the citizens in the neighborhood were thinking that you know that will really totally destroy the neighborhood and I went there the other day and I took some pictures at Present when you stand there and look at it. It's not a very pretty sight So I think if it's done properly it's gonna make it look good. I think I have this in your package I hope They put it in and you can look at it Don't confuse density with affordability. Smaller homes and efficient land use are essential tools to reduce housing cost. If we remove these tools, we must explain what will take their place. Remember who needs these housing. Working families, seniors, people with disabilities, young adults. teachers, healthcare workers, service workers, people who already contribute to our community but cannot afford to live here. The bottom line is not every development belongs on every parcel, not every project should be approved automatically, but not everywhere cannot become nowhere. Nowhere. preserve cottage housing as a viable option let's build balance ordinance that protects our neighborhoods while creating opportunities for the people who need a place to call home keep georgetown strong keep housing possible The last page was basically similar things. My position is straightforward. Do not repeal the cottage housing ordinance. Georgetown needs more housing tools, not fewer. Amend it where necessary. Protect neighborhood character through design, standards, setbacks, and landscaping, parking, open space, architecture, and transitions between cottage, communities, and existing neighborhoods. Do not confuse density with affordability problems. Remember who needs these housing. Sussex County and Georgetown are experiencing the housing affordability problem. We cannot say we need workforce and affordable housing while simultaneously removing the zoning mechanism that allow different types of housing to be built. Every housing model will not belong on every parcel. Every proposal development should not automatically be approved, but not anywhere cannot become nowhere. If the current ordinance is imperfect, improve it. If 12 units per acre is too much, in some neighborhood, adjust it. If additional public review is appropriate, If stronger design standards are needed, write them. But please do not repeal the ordinance and send Georgetown back to a system that leaves us with fewer options for addressing a housing crisis that is already here. I encourage council and working group to preserve cottage housing as a viable option and develop a balanced ordinance that protects existing neighborhoods while creating opportunities for the people who need somewhere affordable to live. We can protect neighborhoods and create housing. These goals are not mutually exclusive. Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Bunny Burton. I live in 405 North Bevere Street. I've lived in Georgetown all my life. My question is why us? As taxpayers, why are we responsible for building homes for people? Nobody did that for us. We had to find our own home. We had to find our own way. Yet they're asking us to build homes for people when we've got all these communities that are coming in. Also, we are deluding ourselves if we believe that if we become a town known for tiny cottages, our home values are going to go just like this. And these are people that have lived here for years, worked here for years, raised our family here for years. And I'm sorry, Rehoboth would not have it. Lewis would not have it. Why do we have to have it? And I know I sound very, very bitter, but I am. You know, we worked for years and years and years to get what we have. And now we're asked to provide for other people? What's wrong with that picture? Why are we giving handouts like that? Yes, I believe in helping people. There's nothing wrong with that. But to ruin our town? And that's what's happening. And I think a lot of people in this town feel like that. I would like to know what kind of, what's the money that they're going to make on these little cottages? How much are they going to make? What's in it for them? Because they're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. They're going to be making money on this. I mean, if they charge $1,000 a month, That's $12,000 a year. What do these things cost? It's paid for in five years. They're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. They're doing it for a profit. And it's on our backs. And I'm sorry. I'm really very bitter. Because we've worked hard. And nobody handed us anything. That's all I've got to say.

Thank you.

Eddie Wise, Old Park Avenue. You know, Sonny, I do agree with you on a couple of things. No, they shouldn't be every parcel should have a community. And the way this code is written, every parcel that's over an acre in UR1 will have it. the way the state has written the code, and no, we can't put conditional uses on it according to the state code. That's why we're recommending to repeal it so we can start over and do it the way it should have been done last December when it was brought up. There's so many things and so many people that were against it, but the council at that time, refused to listen to the citizens of Georgetown and decided to listen to the people out of town who would profit from these developments um there's there's so much so many other things that we can do we're not saying that it doesn't Georgetown doesn't need affordable housing we all agree that we do need affordable housing but there's a better way to do it than what this code is allowing. When I was put on the committee, my thought was put it in conditional use so the town can say, have a little more say on where it can go, just rather than anywhere in UR1 that has one acre land or more. Well, as I read the Senate Bill 23, Senate Bill 23 kicks that option out. It specifically says that conditional use, a conditional use cannot be put on this. Okay, so the state pretty much tied our hands on that, so now we start a repeal process. That's the committee's recommendation is we start the repeal process. and also look at forming a group of where would be and what would be good ideas for affordable housing. Is Cottage Communities still on the board? Yes. I don't say that we're taking Cottage Communities off the table. I would just say take it out of you are one and possibly put it somewhere else or create its own zoning. But that's something that the committee, the future committee, if the council follows our recommendation, look at. Along with other things, ADUs. ADUs are a good option for affordable housing as well. but you can't just allow them everywhere either. There are smart solutions to the problem. We just have to figure them out. Thank you.

Thank you.

Lisa Rolfing, Two Sweet Gum Court, Georgetown, Delaware. I'm going to try to stick to my three minutes or less. I'm not going to talk about my personal salvation or yours. I'm not going to talk about whether I believe This process was met or wasn't met or anything like that. What I'm going to do is just thank you for trusting me with an important task, and that was chairing the Cottage Housing Committee Working Group. The Cottage Housing Working Group met on August 6th to discuss the town's current cottage housing ordinance and the effect of recently enacted state legislation on Georgetown's housing and zoning requirements. When the town council adopted the cottage housing ordinance, it was attempting to be proactive in addressing housing needs and providing another housing option in Georgetown. However, as we know, the ordinance was adopted before the state enacted the Housing for Every Delawarean Act or the Delaware Road Act. Those laws now require Georgetown to look at housing in a much more comprehensive manner. The working group believes that the town should avoid making additional changes to the cottage ordinance as it stands. Instead, taking this opportunity would provide us the ability to step back and develop a coordinated approach to housing and zoning, considering all the factors that are required according to those documents. Following discussion, the working group voted three in favor, zero opposed, with two members absent to recommend that the Town Council refer Ordinance 2025-07 back to the Planning Commission agenda for further review with a request that the Planning Commission consider recommending repeal of the recently adopted ordinance, thus allowing the Town to provide for a complete and comprehensive view of all housing types. We respectfully request that the town council consider this recommendation during the discussion of the cottage housing ordinance and place that on the planning and zoning agenda. Thank you. Thank you.

Anyone else?

Adam Wachkowski, 200 South Bedford Street. I think repealing it would be a wonderful example to the state of what happens when you tie our hands. We take things that as a town, I know a lot of us disagreed with the current code. But alas, there's still a code passed by the town that when the town saw need to modify the code, they ran into a wall, which was poor planning on the state's part by tying our hands to follow a one size fits all for the entire state of Delaware, not considering the individual needs of individual towns throughout the state. I think opposition to this would be a wonderful rallying call for other towns to stand up to. I don't want to say you might be overboard on tyranny from the ladies and gentlemen in Dover representing our state, but it does seem that they have a interest in not taking the needs of small towns into consideration. with their, we know best, one size fits all attitude. And that is why I support repealing this code. Thank you.

Thank you.

Dennis wins and read 2, 3, 3, 6, 5 Park Avenue in Georgetown. And while I am technically outside of city limits, I am covered by the town's comprehensive plan. So my property is included. I believe Sonny, your property is also included in the comprehensive plan. So the future planning of the town affects all of us. As far as this goes, the Community Development Organization or Community Development Department went through this and developed this ordinance over, I believe, a year and a half to two-year period. And it was taken into account what was coming, the Affordable Housing Task Force report, which came out in April 2025. It addressed the issues there, the same points that Sonny brought up. Okay. You have something now that is in compliance with SS2 for SB23. Okay. You met the deadline. You have until November 15th of 2026. At this point, rather than throw it out and start over, you don't have the time to do that. Leave it in place, and as Sonny said, get your task force or get your working group together for recommendations for changes. If there was something on the table that was viable right now to meet the requirements of SS2 for SB23, I would say definitely throw it out and go. but there's nothing there to replace it, and you risk being out of compliance and in violation of the state law, and the governor will not approve. And what happens with the governor not approving the review of the comprehensive plan is the governor will then make changes, and as SB 23 states, you cannot contest it. The governor will tell you what to do, and you're stuck with it. So I think taking that chance and dying on that spear, being the one out there to say, hey, we're going to fight the state government, if you want to take on those resources and get into those lawsuits, that's going to be very costly for the town. That's all I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you.

Everything you just heard is wrong.

Larry Rolfing. Larry Rolfing. Excuse me, come court.

Okay. SB 23 says that the town of Georgetown has to have an affordable housing plan in their next comprehensive plan. Our next comprehensive plan is due in five years, not one year. We have time to repeal this ordinance and get it right. What the Oregon group has recommended is we take the one off that was enacted prematurely, look at the entire plan that's required. It requires more than, yes, the cottages do fit a portion of that law, but then on top of allowing cottages anywhere in this town, we have to allow other types of housing. where we can allow that anywhere in this town as well. No, we want to figure out where we want this these various types of housing come up with a clear comprehensive plan that benefits this town, not individual organizations that are trying to rush things through our system. Thank you.

Thank you.

Clayton Townsend, Ennis Road. The opening ceremony is down to Pyle Center for the Senior League All-Stars. I got an opportunity to talk to a county council member, and they basically said the state screwed them too. They're in a dilemma. This is a Trojan horse that they've brought upon our county. They've got to deal with it as we're dealing with it. And they're not happy, we're not happy about it, but it's something we'll have to deal with. Repealing and starting over apparently is the wisest thing we can do. From what I can understand with the county, they're working just as hard as they can to try to figure this out, what they can do. we're going to be in the same boat. And what's going to come out of the county, it's going to affect us. And of course, the state, they're involved. And it's just one of these things that it's going to take a while to adjust. But every town has got to do it. I want to see Rehoboth and Lewis do what we are doing. It ain't going to happen. You know, they're going to fight it tooth and nail, and they got the money down there to do it. But we have worked hard, as Bonnie said. We've worked hard for what we got. And we're not going to see it just dissipate because... you know, some Bible verse at the time. We're all Christians. We all want to help, but we've been helping a lot and it's not going anywhere. I see, I go in the woods and I see trash and clothes and junk and needles and everything else. So, you know, these homes are not for the homeless. You know, some, some have tried to, um, take this notion and say this is to help the homeless. It's not. It's affordable housing, it's for people who's working. Get them back on their feet and maybe they can move up. But no, the county as ourselves are in a dilemma right now and they're fighting just as hard as they can to try to figure it out. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, any other comments? All right, council, any comments? Tony?

Yeah, I'll say something.

Go ahead, Michael.

So just listen to everybody speak tonight. Pastor, thanks for getting up. You are from Rehoboth. And you did make the comment that this was best for the town of Georgetown, but you're not from Georgetown. Judd, Mr. Malone, I appreciate you getting up here from town, but you made a comment that this ordinance is beautifully aligned moving forward, which I can only assume which will benefit you moving forward. And Sonny, these houses aren't built for disabilities. Nobody with a wheelchair or cane can get around in these little houses, so you can take that out of there. And Larry, I was going to pick up on the 2031. You know, our comp plan is not due until 2031. So all of that takes place. And plus, there were seven town citizens that spoke tonight against this. There were four citizens that spoke for it. Three out of four were not from Georgetown. So I just want to make that clear. Thank you.

Daniel, sit down.

I have to. No.

No.

I agree with Councilman Briggs. The people in charge of the cottages that's already approved, they're not from Georgetown, but the members of town showed up, voiced their opinion, and guess what? The town council did what they wanted to do. They didn't listen to the people. I think the planning commission didn't approve this at the very beginning, but the town council overrode them. and approved it. I think that's wrong. So I think it's time to go back to the drawing board to really put a group together and make some changes and see what we can put together. Thank you.

I'm not against affordable housing, I've always said. We need affordable housing. My biggest complaint with the project that's on the radar now is the location. I think that was the biggest concern among everyone, the location, where it was placed. I met with the gentleman, and he was here tonight. We had lunch at Georgetown Family, and very nice gentleman. He showed me all the drawings, the layout, took me on a tour, took me in the houses. I'd never been in them before. They are making additions and changes to the layout. They are adding a storage unit attached to the house in the back of the house i think it's like 48 square feet a six by eight unit that's attached to the house for bicycles grills whatever you need to store but we went in the houses and they're going to be one bedroom two bedroom and three bedroom the three bedroom will have two lofts upstairs and a bedroom downstairs the first one i went into was a one bedroom And I said, you got to do something with the layout. There's one closet in the whole place. I said, well, where am I going to put my Christmas tree? Where am I going to put my luggage? Where am I going to put bath towels? There's no storage in the bathroom. Where are you going to put it? He said we're going to make modifications to it. Now in the wedding bedroom, the bedroom is so small they had to put a Murphy bed in. You can't put a regular bed in. They had to put a Murphy bed. They do want to add a washer and dryer, which is good. I guess a stackable. And the layout they had, they were going to line them all up on East Market Street and now they're going to have like four, Two and two facing each other with sidewalks between. Everyone will have a fence, I mean a porch with a picket, you know, railing and steps all white. And then he wanted to know what I thought about colors. What colors would you like to see? I didn't want to see something like on Key West with the vibrant colors down there. I don't think that would fit in Georgetown. I went more toward greens and maybe blues or whites. They wanted to put solar panels on the roofs of the houses. I said, oh, that's going to look hideous. Parking was all going to be in the back. They moved the parking from the side in the back. I said it would be nice to have a carport effect and put the the solar units on top of the parking, but they can't do it because it has to be 15 feet from the line according to the code, so that wouldn't work, so they've got to put it on the roof of everything. So, I mean, he was very cordial, very nice, and, you know, we had a nice lunch, and I appreciated the time he took, but my biggest concern still is location of these. I think there's a certain place in town where they would be more acceptable. And that's why I was anxious on touring the outdoor cottages. I've seen park models before that have a ton of room. They're very nice looking. They have washers and dryers. And most of them are for senior citizens because there's really no upkeep on the outside of the house. But my biggest concern about affordable housing has been the location. of these units which we can't do anything about them right now. But I'm in favor of the repeal and to send it back and start the drawing board. I don't, Gene said he visited other towns that had the cottage living and that's where the ordinance basically came from, other towns and other communities and it's not, well that's not Georgetown. That's not us. You know, we're kind of unique. we weren't well we we basically said I wasn't mayor then we basically gave our opinion that we were against it but council didn't listen to us and the mayor didn't listen to us the past mayor um so I I think we need to go ahead and repeal this ordinance and start from square one and make something that's going to be agreeable with everybody that we're going to be proud of to have in our town And, you know, we have to change the zoning, make it a conditional use perhaps, or change the zoning, maybe increase the acreage on them so they can't go on every one acre lot in town.

But that's just my opinion, so I'm done.

So, all right, I'm going to ask council for, how do you want to move forward?

I make a motion to refer the current cottage housing ordinance 2025-07 back to the planning commission and ask the commission to consider recommending its repeal.

Okay, just for clarification, since you're proposing a change to the zoning code, you'd be proposing a draft ordinance to go to the planning commission to start the process of amending the code by repealing that part of the ordinance, or the old ordinance, correct?

That's correct. Okay.

Just for everybody's clarification, that doesn't mean council is changing the code tonight. That means they're starting the process of changing the code, which has to go to the planning commission first.

Okay, I have a motion on the floor. Do I have a second?

Second.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Do I have any nays?

Nay.

have one nay thank you tony okay the count is um three to one the motion passes one more thing another recommendation was that you um form a housing working group and i don't think that could be done tonight because you'd probably want to put out an agenda item and get people who might want to be on that but does council have um

what's council's pleasure on on that as a going forward step i'd like to see i would like to see a housing group form and people that are interested in serving on that housing group should contact us and let us know do you want that in a motion also uh we we can put that as a section of the ordinance that that's a recommendation so okay all right okay so All right, so motion was passed. We're going to send it back to the Planning Commission. Okay. All right. What I need now is a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Do I have a second?

Second.

All in favor? Hey, Gearson.

Yes, sir.

I got your thumb drive, maybe.

You want to serve?