Sussex County Council members heard a detailed presentation from the applicant for Cool Springs Crossing emphasizing wetlands protection, conservation dedications and economic benefits.

The applicant’s representative, Jim Fuqua, told the council that Army Corps of Engineers staff issued a jurisdictional determination on April 17, 2024, identifying 29.6 acres of stream and non‑tidal wetlands along Martin Branch at the site’s eastern boundary. Fuqua said the project will preserve a Martin Branch Conservation Area that exceeds the county’s 2022 resource buffer ordinance requirements and includes a 61.61‑acre voluntary conservation tract plus the formally required buffer strips. "We believe this is such a master plan mixed use community," Fuqua said, arguing the design keeps development out of FEMA flood‑zone areas and dedicates the most environmentally sensitive lands to permanent restriction and stewardship.

Fuqua described the preservation math: the combined required buffers and voluntary conservation lands create an expanded protected area that, together with the identified wetlands, amounts to roughly 105 acres of preserved sensitive lands; the full set of conservation dedications across the site will total about 117 acres. He added that an archaeological assessment identified a small 30‑by‑30‑foot cemetery with four marked graves that will be fenced, restored and given a 25‑foot buffer and a historical marker.

On housing and fiscal impacts, the applicant cited a SAGE economic report in the record estimating about $836 million in construction costs, roughly $475 million in construction‑phase labor income, thousands of construction jobs, and about 1,500 permanent jobs after build‑out. Fuqua said the report projects approximately $4.7 million in annual property tax revenue to the school district versus about $4.1 million in annual school expenditures related to new pupils, producing a projected $550,000 annual surplus to the district. The transcript included a range of pupil estimates in the record; one appendix figure cited roughly 409 public‑school pupils in the Cape Henlopen School District at full build‑out.

The applicant also proposed an additional condition (labeled "ZZ") to cap residential building permits at no more than 200 per calendar year outside Village A, while allowing unrestricted permits in Village A. Fuqua said the cap is intended to pace build‑out and protect local infrastructure.

Council members pressed the applicant on details including the permanence of workforce or "workforce housing" units and whether special indexing would apply to the proposed annual fire fee. Fuqua said 25% of units will participate in the Sussex County SCARP program, which governs those units; other workforce‑priced units are tied to product type rather than a permanent subsidy and therefore could become market rate over time. On emergency funding, Fuqua said the plan assigns an approximate $100 annual fire fee per residential unit to be collected through HOA dues and estimated an overall annual contribution of about $250,000 to the local fire companies once the project is complete, split between the Milton and Lewis departments.

The presentation concluded with the applicant asking the council to adopt the Planning & Zoning Commission’s unanimous recommendation of approval for the four applications before the council and to add condition ZZ. The council then moved to hear public testimony and took a short recess after the initial speakers.