GEORGETOWN, Del. - Springboard Cottage Community, a proposed affordable housing project in Georgetown, was reviewed and discussed by the Preliminary Land Use Service, also known as PLUS.
The project is in a very early stage of the development process. The PLUS review comes before the proposal is submitted to the Georgetown Planning Department and considered by the Georgetown Planning Commission.
The review included site plans for 124 cottage dwelling units and a community center in Georgetown.
The proposed development would be located on 14 acres north of the intersection of Murrays Lane and East Market Street. The property is classified as State Strategies Level 1.
The project is being proposed by Springboard Delaware, the nonprofit that runs the Pallet Village in Georgetown. Judsone Malone, executive director of Springboard Delaware, said the organization is currently looking at one- and two-bedroom homes. Malone added the project would also include ADA-accessible units.
"Some will be able to pay a fair market rent, which is the mark that we're trying to achieve, as opposed to normal market rent, which is much higher. So we're already trying to keep the rent down to federally recommended fair market rate, but beyond that, some people will still need some rental subsidies in order to afford it. So we hope to achieve a mixed-income community," Malone said.
Malone explained that affordable housing can include federal funding and rental assistance. He noted rental assistance is intended to cover the gap between what people can afford and the rent amount, with fair market rate used as a benchmark.
Malone said the project's target range is between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income.
"In our case, the most severe need is for people with the lowest incomes. So we bracket our targeted market in terms of household incomes according to some percentage of area median income," Malone said.
Malone talked about Springboard Delaware's housing mission.
"Our tagline is 'All housed, vibrant lives.' So all housed means not just people who are chronically homeless and desperate for someplace to live, but also people who are working and still cannot afford a reasonable rent. That goes for people who are at the very lowest income levels all the way up to people earning $40,000 to $50,000 a year and still cannot find a place that is affordable for them. Springboard is more than a homeless provider of housing. We are an affordable housing provider, and so the projects we develop are all consistent with that mission," Malone said.
Malone talked about housing costs in Georgetown.
"Too many people in Georgetown right now are renting, but they're having to pay upwards of half to two-thirds of their income just to pay the rent. Our primary target audience is the people who are paying way too much rent now because there are too few housing choices. That's further compounded by the fact that Georgetown is a job center. In addition to the people who live here, there's another approximately 7,000 or 8,000 people who come to work here every day. It's not necessarily all of them who want to live here; they prefer to commute, but about 3,000 of them have income levels that make affordability a real issue, and so we want to open up and have more housing available for people who live here and for people who work here," Malone said.
Malone described the proposed neighborhood layout.
"It's going to be a beautiful community of neighborhoods. It's 14 acres, but that doesn't mean massive 14 acres of cottage is just thrown out there. The pocket neighborhood concept is intended to foster a sense of connectedness and community among neighbors that traditional subdivisions don't," Malone said.
The plans include a community center. Malone said it will include a community room with computers, availability for courses and partnerships with groups that offer training programs.
"The community center will take on an important role beyond normal subdivision community centers that are basically there for hosting meetings and maybe some of the property management offices are there, but we also intend to take some of our supportive services model that we've learned in the Pallet Village. We do want to have a community room where there's computers, availability to hold courses. We want to interact with partners who come in and offer training programs," Malone said.
"In addition to providing a quality housing product, we provide the range of supportive services appropriate for people at different income levels," Malone said.
Springboard Delaware is looking at various ways to fund the project.
That includes the State Housing Authority and major employers like Beebe Healthcare and Bayhealth having an equity stake in the project. In return, their employees would have access to the project.
Kenneth Dawson, who lives in Georgetown and has lived on Murrays Lane since he was 11, said he supports affordable housing but has concerns about traffic.
"Most people have at least one car and are in and out of their house three or four times a day. So, you start looking at 800 cars. That's the single street, and I know a lot of times I have to turn right and go toward town in order to actually get left, because the light holds everybody up and just blocks it off," Dawson said.
The review comes after Georgetown Town Council recently voted 3-1 to begin the process of repealing the town's cottage housing ordinance.
The Georgetown Planning Commission will consider the proposed repeal before it can return to Town Council for further action.
It is unclear how or if any change in that ordinance will impact this specific project.
Malone responded to the proposed ordinance change.
"I cannot understand the logic of why the town would feel like they have to repeal an ordinance that already makes them in compliance with SB 23. Instead, they want to start over again with another approach undefined, unknown, that may or may not meet the objectives as cleanly as this one does. So, our position is that we are far into this project and we deserve to be reviewed, because of our vested rights, that this project is already in motion and in progress, and we hope that we can come to an agreement with the town that that is the path forward," Malone said.
During the review, the Office of State Planning Coordination and the Delaware State Housing Authority said they support the project, especially because it involves affordable housing, and said it will help with the need for it.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) said a jurisdictional determination should be conducted for the site to flag the wetland boundary. DNREC added, "wetland delineation should be done by a qualified professional."
The Delaware State Historic Preservation Office recommended an archaeological survey before ground disturbance activities.
The PLUS deadline to send comments to the developer is Sept. 24.
