Georgetown reconsiders controversial tiny homes ordinance amid resident pushback

Why Should Delaware Care? 
Homelessness and affordable housing have been at the forefront of state and local government conversations in Delaware in recent months. Georgetown was relatively unique in approving a cottage housing ordinance last year as a way to confront both issues, but some residents and newly-elected officials are once again pushing back against the measure.

The newly-elected Georgetown Town Council is revisiting a contentious cottage housing ordinance from last year, arguing that residents want the government to remove the measure allowing developers to build tiny homes in the Sussex County seat. 

The move represents a continued point of friction between town council and residents over how government leaders should respond to the demand for more affordable housing and a split over how best to provide homelessness resources in town. 

The reconsideration also follows the May election of three new members of the five-member town council, all of whom campaigned, in part, on a platform of repealing the ordinance and were backed by a vocal Facebook group of Sussex County residents opposed to Georgetown’s handling of its growing homeless population.

The cottage housing ordinance, which council members approved in December 2025, allows up to 12 homes to be built on a single acre of property zoned for urban residential use. 

While the specifics of tiny homes, or cottage homes, can vary from project to project, the concept typically includes houses between 400 and 900 square feet that are considered affordable to residents earning below an area’s median income. 

The town council voted 4-1 earlier this month to halt the review of any new cottage housing development proposals and appoint a committee to consider revising or repealing the ordinance. 

That committee met this week to discuss the ordinance. The tenor of the group’s roughly two-hour long discussion suggested they will soon issue a recommendation that the town council strike down the ordinance. 

“The people I spoke to said tiny homes are not an option,” said resident Lisa Rohlfing, who is serving as the committee’s chair, at the July 28 meeting. 

One tiny housing project developed by the nonprofit Little Living, was already approved by the town council in February. It will be able to move forward with construction regardless of whether the town chooses to repeal the cottage housing ordinance.

While the Little Living project, which will include 20 tiny homes on a roughly 2 acre property on East Market Street, will not be impacted, another cottage housing community proposed by Springboard Delaware would be left dead in the water. 

Judson Malone, executive director of Springboard Delaware, which also operates the pallet village transitional housing community in Georgetown, said they have plans to build 122 tiny homes on a 14-acre property near Sussex Academy. 

Malone said he has already had a pre-development meeting with the town planning commission about the project, but it is now held up by the July 13 decision to pause the review of any new tiny home projects.

Malone declined to comment on the council’s decision to pause review of applications. 

However, he said he hopes the committee will allow town residents to “better understand affordable housing issues and increasingly what a town’s responsibilities are to provide it.”

A reignited discussion 

The debate over cottage homes once again emerged in Georgetown this summer, as some residents raised concerns about the impact the Little Living project and future tiny home developments will have on the quality of life for town residents. 

At recent town council meetings, some residents, many of whom expressed opposition to the cottage home concept last fall, said they do not believe the Little Living homes are attractive or well-made. The town, therefore, should not encourage other similar projects, the residents said. 

In response to the ongoing pushback, Little Living director George Meringolo told Spotlight Delaware these are the same criticisms he has been hearing for months, which he considers to be “misinformation” and “misrepresentation.” 

Residents also argue there are other, better alternatives to solving the affordable housing crisis in the area. 

One resident, Linda Dennis, who is also the chair of the town’s Supportive Housing Issues Committee, said Georgetown is not fully counting all of the affordable housing options it currently has, such as sober homes and the Cheer Center, which is a senior-living community. 

“We’re pretty much done as far as I’m concerned,” Dennis said at a July council meeting about calls for more affordable housing. 

Other residents also said the approval of the cottage housing ordinance and the Little Living project are representative of the previous town council, led by former Mayor Bill West, ignoring the will of town residents. 

In response, Mayor Angie Townsend, who has been a vocal critic of the cottage living concept in the past, suggested the town create a committee to consider ways to revise the ordinance’s language or repeal it altogether

At the same meeting, the council voted 4-1 in favor of halting the review of future tiny home project proposals. 

Councilman Tony Neal was the sole vote against the pause, saying that he is worried about addressing the continued demand for affordable housing in town. 

Committee moves forward

The committee appointed by Townsend to examine the cottage housing ordinance appeared to move strongly in the direction of repealing the ordinance at an initial meeting on July 28. 

The group includes Rohlfing, who has been vocal about repealing the ordinance at recent town council meetings, as its chair, along with Council Members Tony Neal and Michael Briggs, Town Manager Gene Dvornick and resident Eddie Wise. 

The majority of the group’s discussion centered on recently passed state laws, including Senate Bill 23 and House Bill 450, which require municipalities to introduce zoning ordinances and other policies that encourage affordable housing production. 

Some committee members said they are confused about how the implementation of the new state regulations works, but the laws suggest there are other ways Georgetown could encourage affordable housing, instead of cottage housing communities. 

Rohlfing, the committee chair, was aggressive in advocating that the group vote at the initial meeting to recommend town council repeal the cottage housing ordinance.  

Briggs, who campaigned for town council in part on dissatisfaction with the ordinance, said at the meeting he believes it was “was thrown down our throats.” He is likely in favor of repealing the ordinance, but said the committee should come up with ideas of alternative affordable housing measures.

Neal, however, appeared to be less certain about his position on the ordinance.

“I thought the purpose of this commission was to come up with some kind of solution not just to repeal,” he said. 

The committee members ultimately did not take a vote on Rolfing’s motion to recommend the council strike down the ordinance, as they were confused whether it would be a conflict of interest for Briggs and Neal to vote when they are also members of the town council. 

Dvornick, the town manager, told Spotlight Delaware he has since clarified with the town solicitor that the council members would be able to vote on the committee’s motion. 

All five members of the town council, including Briggs, Neal, Townsend, Penuel Barrett and Christina Diaz-Malone did not respond to Spotlight Delaware’s request for comment about their thoughts on repealing the ordinance. 

Get Involved
The Cottage Housing Ordinance Review Committee is set to next meet at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6, inside Georgetown Town Hall. Meeting details can be found here.

Maggie Reynolds is a Report for America corps member and Spotlight Delaware reporter who covers rural communities in Delaware. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://spotlightdelaware.org/support/.