This article was updated late Wednesday night after the Georgetown Planning Commission voted to deny the ordinance from moving forward.
GEORGETOWN, Del. - The Georgetown Planning Commission voted 3-2 Wednesday to deny a proposed ordinance that would have repealed the town’s cottage housing ordinance.
Commission members recommended to the Town Council to refer it back to the town's ad-hoc committee and said they want the committee to further explain how the existing cottage housing ordinance fails to comply with new state housing laws before taking any additional action.
"We have to have it. We can't have people living on the streets. It's just unsustainable," said Charlie Koskey, a resident in Georgetown. "We have to provide the services that are necessary for the most vulnerable people that are out here."
The cottage housing ordinance was adopted in December 2025. It allows smaller detached homes to be developed in clusters with shared open space.
The town began considering a repeal earlier this year, putting future cottage housing applications on hold while officials reviewed the town’s broader approach to affordable housing and zoning.
The town has pointed to recently passed state housing legislation, including Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill 23, which addresses housing supply and affordability and requires municipalities to develop affordable housing plans as part of their comprehensive planning process.
Town officials have said they want to review the zoning code and consider multiple approaches to affordable housing rather than relying solely on the existing cottage housing ordinance.
Some Georgetown residents have argued that removing cottage housing as a permitted use could reduce affordable housing options.
“People are going to suffer. There's going to be people that could have had a place to live that still don't have a place to live. The planning commission and the town council don't seem to understand that,” said Jon Peterson, who lives in Georgetown.
The proposed repeal still allows the previously submitted Market Street Village cottage housing project to continue under the rules adopted in 2025. The town also suspended review of new cottage housing applications while the repeal process was underway.
The Georgetown Town Council voted 3-1 in August to begin the repeal process. The Planning Commission's 3-2 vote Wednesday now prevents the repeal from moving forward to the council in its current form.
The Town Council now has the decision to pass the ordinance as written, not pass the ordinance, or refer it back to the ad-hoc committee for recommendation.
