In a race dominated by development discussions, for a seat on a council dominated by development decisions, incumbent County Councilman Vance Phillips (R–4th) used a 13 percent margin Tuesday to beat Democratic challenger Harvey Hyland Jr.
Phillips admitted when the victory became clear, about 9 p.m. Tuesday night, that he was a bit “tense,” but not nervous. He said that his win — a nail-biter compared to his 2002 race, when he picked up more than 63 percent of the vote — can be attributed to “experience, dedication (and) accessibility.”
“I certainly want to thank all of my supporters,” Phillips said. “Hard work pays off.”
Hyland, who received almost 4,500 votes and cited strong support in some precincts, said his name was just not recognizable enough to win over the better-known incumbent.
“I just don’t think I was known in a lot of areas,” Hyland said, adding that his stance on growth made him popular among some. “People are tired of this rapid, out-of-control growth. I’m going to stay in there and I’m looking forward to this land-use plan.”
An updated land-use plan is due to the state by the end of next year.
Phillips, a property-rights advocate and supporter of growth that moves toward land preservation defeated Hyland, who said the county was over-developed and preached infrastructure being in place before development throughout his smaller-scale campaign.
Phillips has received continued criticism from his Republican fellow on council, George Cole (R-5th), who another victor on Tuesday, for his stance on controlled growth.
A Laurel native, Phillips usually supports growth in the county, but has argued that council should charge developers for awarding higher density in certain areas and use that money to preserve more land in Sussex County. The density-trade ordinance introduced by Phillips and passed this year already does that on a smaller scale, but the practice needs to be more widespread to make a difference, Phillips said.
Phillips has said that pending land-use plan discussions will be a perfect forum to work on his ideas and initiate serious growth reform in the county.
“The land use is certainly of primary importance to me. We’ve got to protect the individual while respecting the community,” Phillips said. “We’ve got to look for creative ways to respect our quality of life. I believe the county should be charging developers when there is a request for increased density.”