Delaware Senate Bill 23 requires counties and municipalities with more than 2,000 residents to build measurable affordable housing goals into their long-range land-use plans, update zoning rules, and track progress. It also changes how qualifying residential applications and county rezoning requests must be reviewed.
The enacted measure, Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill 23, is known as the Housing for Every Delawarean Act. If you work in local government, planning, housing development, or property review, you need to understand which duties are mandatory, which policy choices remain local, and when those duties apply.
Who Must Comply With Delaware Senate Bill 23?
Every Delaware county is covered, along with municipalities that have populations greater than 2,000 and must adopt a long-range land-use plan. Smaller municipalities do not face the affordable housing plan requirement created by the law.
The population threshold determines whether a town or city must add the new housing component to its local plan. A jurisdiction above that threshold must prepare the housing plan in collaboration with the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA). Once adopted, the housing plan becomes part of the jurisdiction’s broader land-use plan rather than operating as a separate policy document.
Counties carry added responsibilities that do not apply to municipalities in the same way. They must align their official zoning maps with the future land-use designations in their adopted plans within a fixed period. Failure to complete that work can change how the county must process rezoning applications submitted by property owners.
When Must Local Governments Adopt Their Housing Plans?
A covered jurisdiction generally must adopt its first affordable housing plan at the same time as its next long-range land-use plan. The housing component must then appear in every later version of that plan.
A limited timing rule applies to jurisdictions adopting their next land-use plan before February 1, 2027. Those jurisdictions do not have to complete the first affordable housing plan or meet the related zoning requirements until the next five-year review. Local officials should confirm the jurisdiction’s adoption schedule before setting internal deadlines.
The planning process must be open and inclusive, and it must run alongside the development of the larger land-use plan. That means housing goals, zoning analysis, public participation, and implementation schedules should be coordinated from the beginning. Treating the housing component as a late addition could make it harder to connect its policies to maps, infrastructure priorities, and development regulations.
What Must The Affordable Housing Plan Accomplish?
The plan must set measurable goals for increasing housing supply across income levels and diversifying the types of homes available. It must also show meaningful progress toward a strategic goal of having 20% of the jurisdiction’s housing units qualify as affordable housing.
For purposes of the law, affordable rental housing serves households earning up to 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). Affordable homeownership units serve households earning up to 120% of AMI. Because those limits differ, your jurisdiction will need to distinguish rental needs from ownership needs when measuring existing supply and setting production goals.
The document must state local goals, policies, and objectives, describe current or planned affordable housing efforts, and provide a timeline for reaching the stated objectives. If the jurisdiction lacks an existing housing initiative, the plan must identify actions it will implement. Work completed, or work showing measurable progress, on or after July 17, 2024, may count toward applicable requirements.
Which Zoning Changes Must The Plan Address?
Every covered housing plan must address residential density, permit a wider mix of housing types, and evaluate development standards that could limit permitted density. These are mandatory subjects rather than policies a jurisdiction can replace with another housing strategy.
The plan must provide for increases in maximum permitted residential density, including the number of dwelling units allowed per acre. Local officials will need to compare existing zoning capacity with the housing targets in the plan. A policy that promises more housing without identifying where zoning permits additional units would not meet the law’s measurable planning standard.
Local rules must authorize a mix of housing types without requiring a conditional use permit or special exception. The law identifies detached homes, attached homes, duplexes, triplexes, multifamily buildings, accessory dwelling units, cottage housing, and manufactured housing. The jurisdiction must also review lot sizes, lot widths, setbacks, unit sizes, lot coverage, building heights, and open-space rules in relation to maximum residential density.
Which Additional Housing Strategies Must A Jurisdiction Select?
Beyond the mandatory zoning subjects, each covered jurisdiction must include at least five strategies from the law’s menu of housing-production measures. This structure gives you local choice, but it does not allow the jurisdiction to avoid selecting and implementing additional measures.
Available options include density bonuses, reduced parking or open-space requirements, transit-oriented zoning, faster permit review, fee reductions, local impact-fee relief, and alternative development standards in designated growth areas. A jurisdiction can also permit single-room occupancy housing in a residential zone or allow commercial, office, and retail properties to convert to residential or majority-residential mixed use.
Other choices include permitting certain housing services in at least one residential zone and expanding land where multifamily housing is allowed by right. A locality may propose another strategy that is not listed, provided DSHA approves it as a way to increase and diversify affordable housing. When selecting five measures, officials should compare legal changes, staffing demands, infrastructure capacity, expected unit production, and the time required for implementation.
How Does The Law Change By-Right Housing Review?
A residential use permitted by right must move through an administrative review and approval process based on objective standards. Local review may confirm whether an application follows measurable rules, but it cannot turn a permitted use into a discretionary approval.
A by-right use is one already permitted within the relevant zoning district and compliant with applicable requirements. It does not need rezoning, a conditional use permit, a special exception, or a variance. Objective standards must be measurable, uniformly applied, and free from personal judgment by the reviewer.
A planning commission, planning board, or another administrative body may still review the application. Its review must remain limited to compliance with the stated standards. A public meeting may be held, but it cannot operate as a public hearing, its review must stay focused on objective requirements, and any public comment must be submitted in writing.
What Must Counties Do With Their Zoning Maps?
Each county must amend its official zoning maps within 12 months after adopting or revising its long-range land-use plan. The revised zoning must match the uses and development intensities shown in the county’s future land-use map and related implementation provisions.
If a county misses that deadline, a property owner may submit a rezoning application consistent with the adopted future land-use designations. The county generally must approve the request unless written findings show that the proposed classification conflicts with the map or related provisions, or that the application fails applicable procedural or submission rules.
The county has 21 days to determine whether that application is complete. If it does not issue a written determination within that period, the application is treated as complete. The county then has 120 days to take final action unless the applicant agrees in writing to an extension, and any denial must identify the specific map designation or legal standard supporting it.
How Will State Review And Public Reporting Work?
Local plans remain locally developed, but they pass through state review and certification. Covered jurisdictions must also supply information that allows state agencies to measure progress against adopted housing goals.
The Governor may certify a plan when it meets statutory planning requirements and demonstrates consideration of state development policies. If the plan is returned for revision, the municipality or county receives 45 days to make the required changes and resubmit it. State financial assistance or infrastructure support is not guaranteed for development actions tied to a plan found substantially inconsistent with state policies, including affordable housing policies.
DSHA and the Office of State Planning Coordination will gather compliance information and prepare annual reports for the public. Those reports will show each jurisdiction’s progress toward the goals in its affordable housing plan. Publication is scheduled to begin by May 15, 2028, which means local governments need recordkeeping methods that connect zoning amendments, approvals, housing production, and affordability measures to their stated targets.
What Does Senate Bill 23 Require From Local Governments?
- Add measurable affordable housing goals to local land-use plans.
- Increase density and permit more housing types.
- Select at least five added housing strategies.
- Use objective review for by-right housing.
- Track and report progress.
Turn The Law Into A Local Work Plan
Delaware Senate Bill 23 moves affordable housing from a general planning topic to a set of measurable local duties. Your jurisdiction needs to confirm whether it crosses the population threshold, identify its next land-use plan deadline, audit current zoning, and document policies that may already qualify. Counties also need a schedule for bringing zoning maps into alignment within 12 months. Early coordination among planners, elected officials, legal staff, permit reviewers, DSHA, and the public will make the required changes easier to measure and administer.
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