As full-time residents of Lewes for many years (1987 to present), my family and I have appreciated Cape Henlopen State Park for its natural beauty, something increasingly rare in rapidly developing coastal Sussex. Two of my children were summer employees at CHSP, and I regularly brought my UD Coastal Field Biology classes out to the park for field trips. We walk there frequently year-round, and trailer camp in the fall. A few years ago, we were gratified to see that the plan to commercialize the park, which stood in direct contradiction to the principles of the Warner Grant, was abandoned in the face of strenuous public protest. The latest CHSP plan to install upscale housing and an expanded bathhouse suggests that the urge to develop continues, despite the passage of Senate Bill 6 reiterating the mission of CHSP as defined in the Warner Land Grant Trust.
Coastal Sussex has more than enough destruction of natural habitat by development without CHSP joining in. Please, let's stick to the concepts spelled out originally in the Warner Grant and confirmed by state law in 2023. We are not opposed to upgrading facilities at the park, but we believe that adding additional high-end housing, and encroaching on dune and forest habitat will damage a Delaware treasure for short-term financial gain.
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