We are unit owners at Port Lewes, which is a half-mile from Cape Henlopen State Park. We are in strong opposition to building a new restaurant in the park. The state park is a treasured natural resource available to visitors, residents of Lewes and the state. Building a year-round restaurant available for “undefined events” will destroy that. Night lights, noise and too many imbibing visitors will drive away the animals and natural life that make Cape Henlopen State Park very special. Once you allow this, it cannot be reversed. The damage will be done.
Delaware law protects the treasured natural resources of Cape Henlopen State Park as set down in the William Penn grant in 1682 and later clarified by the Delaware General Assembly in the Warner Grant amendment in 1979. The Warner Grant Trust Lands are administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control for the benefit of the people of Lewes, Sussex County and State of Delaware for the public benefit as areas of public recreation, conservation and/or nature education and are not to be used for private benefit.
Lewes is not suffering from a shortage of restaurants in the city limits or out on Route 1 down to Rehoboth and Dewey. If the park is short on revenue, raise the fees! Don’t destroy the park!
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