City Council on Oct. 27 voted unanimously to support the City of Newark’s application to the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) for technical assistance under Senate Joint Resolution 8 to advance affordable‑housing efforts.

Renee Vensley, director of Planning and Development, said the state program will provide a consultant procured through the state RFP process and paid by DSHA to help the city advance a set of items previously discussed by council. Vensley noted an error in the draft resolution: it omitted Councilwoman Ford’s request to add creation and funding of a housing trust fund to the list of technical‑assistance tasks. Council amended the resolution to add that task before approving the measure.

Council discussed the amendment procedure and confirmed the amended resolution would include enabling accessory dwelling units and missing‑middle housing types as permitted uses in residential zones (excluding detached accessory structures), among other checklist items in the state form. The final motion approved the resolution as amended.

The motion passed on a recorded vote; council members present voted aye and the motion carried 6–0.

Council members asked staff to proceed with the application and to ensure the housing trust fund item is included in the technical assistance scope. No funding was approved at this meeting; the resolution is to support the city application for DSHA‑provided consultant assistance.