Sussex County Quality of Life Study
Discusses Growth Trends

The study used the census tracts within the county to more closely analyze growth trends.  Although the these tract borders do not align exactly with the boundaries of the Inland Bays watershed, the trends around the bays are quite evident.

Between 1990 and 2000, the population of Sussex County grew 38.3%, with even greater growth in the coastal areas.  During the period, housing units increased 25%.  There are seven census tracts surrounding the Inland Bays, four of which were the highest-growing tracts in the county.  Tract 512, which extends along the oceanfront from the Indian River Inlet south to the Maryland state line, encompassing Bethany Beach, South Bethany, Fenwick Island and the unincorporated areas in between, experienced the county’s most dramatic population increase of 190.6% during the 1990s.   Tract 510, extending from the Midway area between Rehoboth and Lewes and along the western shore of Rehoboth Bay to the northern shore of Herring Creek, grew by 82.6%.  Tract 507, including the southern shore of Herring Creek, the Long Neck and Oak Orchard areas and the northern shore of Indian River to Millsboro, grew by 76.6%.  Tract 513, which includes the southern shore of Indian River Bay, the towns of Ocean View, Millville, Clarksville and the entire Little Assawoman Bay watershed, saw a population increase of 73.4% during the decade.

Sussex County Census Tracts

The number of housing units countywide increased 25.3% from 1990 to 2000.  Tracts around the Inland Bays watershed that had the highest increases in housing units were 510 (37.5%), 513 (34.4%) and 512 (26.0%).  Outside of the watershed, housing-unit increases greater than the countywide average occurred in tract 508 (46.6%), which includes Milton, 517 (36.6%) in the south-central part of the county and 503 (36.2%), including the Greenwood and Bridgeville areas and 519 (30.1%) in the southwest corner of the county.

More extensive research of census data would show the specific areas within the census tracts where the most significant population and housing growth has occurred.

The study included a mail survey of 1,600 county residents to determine attitudes, perceptions and opinions about various quality of life factors and the growth and development issues facing the county.  The county was divided into four groups of census tracts for this survey.  These groups divided the county into four north-south “tiers” beginning at the ocean and Delaware Bay shore and extending to the western boundary of the county. These groups of tracts were designated Primary Coastal, Secondary Coastal, Mid-County and Western tracts. Mail surveys were sent to a random sample of residents in each of the four tract groups in proportion to the population, with oversamples in the two eastern tract groups.

Primary Coastal Tracts	Secondary Coastal Tracts
Mid-county Tracts	Western Tracts

The survey generated at 46% return rate, and the results were initially analyzed for the entire county.  The responses were then divided between the two eastern tract groups, called “coastal,” and the two western tract groups, called “inland.”  Significant differences were observed between the two groups of residents in demographics, attitudes, perceptions and relative importance of various quality of life factors.

Although not a part of the Sussex County Quality of Life Study, the amount of impervious surfaces in a given area is a significant characteristic of land use and is an indicator for water quality trends.  Impervious surfaces include roads, residential and commercial structures, sidewalks, parking lots, driveways and other hard surfaces that prevent the natural draining of water into the ground.  These structures and surfaces channel rainwater in particular directions, through gutters and storm drains, thus increasing runoff velocity and pollutant concentrations in the runoff.   This is of particular concern in the effort to improve the Inland Bays water quality.

Impervious surface is usually expressed as a percentage of a known land area, and 10% is often used as a threshold, above which degradation of water quality in a given area is likely.  According to data from early 2004, the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal sub-watershed is above the threshold with 15.6% impervious surface, and the other seven sub-watersheds within the greater Inland Bays watershed are within two percent of reaching the threshold.   The other sub-watersheds and their impervious surface percentages are Assawoman (8.7%), Buntings Branch (9.7%), Indian River Bay (9.0%), Indian River (8.6%), Iron Branch (8.4%), Little Assawoman (9.6%) and Rehoboth Bay (8.8%).  These impervious surface percentages indicate problematic levels of pollutants may be reaching the inland bays and their tributaries from developed areas.