Hello friends, I am very sorry to report that the clearing and development of 138 acres of protected Fort DuPont State Park land known as “Grassdale” has begun.  The property was illegally sold by the Fort DuPont Redevelopment & Preservation Corporation to a private entity via a “shell game” of buyers in October 2021  with the intention to construct a 423-space RV “Campground.” This sale is illegal for numerous reasons which I will summarize below.  Media campaigns were launched and local, state, and federal, officials, legislators, and/or departments along with multiple environmental organizations were contacted and asked to intervene to first stop the sale, and later to reverse the sale based on overwhelming evidence, but to no avail.

The only thing left that I can think of to do is to file a lawsuit:  Citizens of the State of Delaware vs. The State of Delaware, The Fort DuPont Redevelopment & Preservation Corporation, Blue Water Development Corporation, RIG Acquisitions LLC, and Sun Fort DuPont RV LLC.  Legislators, individual investors and previous/current employees of FDRPC may also be included. 

PLEASE, IF ANYONE IS AN EXPERIENCED ATTORNEY WILLING TO TAKE THIS CASE ON PRO BONO OR IF YOU KNOW OF AND HAVE CONFIRMED WITH AN ATTORNEY WHO IS WILLING TO DO SO, PLEASE CONTACT ME, ERICA LINDSEY, VIA EMAIL AT IXIONANGEL@AOL.COM

Violations of Delaware Law/Reasons the sale of Grassdale is illegal and should be reversed:

1.       The land was purchased with Land Conservation Funds and is pursuant to the Delaware Land Protection Act and Delaware Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund regulations, meaning, the property must remain in the public domain, publicly accessible, and undeveloped FOREVER.

2.       The land is part of the Open Space program which grants additional protections and Grassdale is still included in the Open Space program directory today.

3.       The Fort DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Act requires that the Fort DuPont complex remain a public destination with its historic, natural, and recreational resources maintained for public enjoyment.  The Fort DuPont State Park, of which Grassdale is part, is included in this complex.

4.       The enabling legislation of the FDRP Act did not automatically transfer Grassdale to the FDRPC.  The law specifies that the initial duties of the corporation are to vet which sections of the complex should be transferred to the Corporation. 

5.       Protections can only be removed by an act of the General Assembly.  This was not done.

6.       The protections were carried over on the deed when the property was sold to the State by John Finnegan; carried over again on the deed when the property was granted to the FDRPC from the State; but the clause mysteriously disappeared from the deed granted to Blue Water Development/RIG Acquisitions/Sun Fort DuPont RV by the FDRPC, without the proper and legal removal of protections by the General Assembly.

7.       By Delaware State law, any sale of public land must go through a process whereby public notification is given in all three counties and then the land is to be sold at auction to the highest bidder. This was not done.

8.       The then-FDRPC/Delaware City attorney, Max Walton, claimed that the two Delaware City Planning Commission meetings (August 2019 and March 2020) would serve as public hearings, as is required by law.  Neither agenda was marked as a “Public Hearing” and public comment was not included in either agenda.

9.       There is a Delaware law that states a vote cannot be taken until a period of 15 days has expired after a public hearing.  The idea is that the voting panel needs time to digest and disseminate the public comment.  Yet, in the fraudulent Planning Commission “public hearings” votes were taken at the end of each meeting.  Preliminary approval was given in August 2019 and final approval was given in March 2020.

10.   In the Planning Commission meeting, a member asked if the RV Campground plan would still have to be approved by Mayor & Council.  FDRPC/DC attorney Max Walton stated that it would, but failed to describe the fact that he set up the zoning of the entire Fort DuPont district as “by-right” – meaning, if a plan met an included use in the zoning code (which Max Walton wrote and in this case, HPR, which allows for almost anything: residential, commercial, industrial), and the plan met Delaware City Code (which Max Walton also wrote but conveniently “forgot” to include environmental protections among other things that would have invalidated this sale), then the Mayor & Council has no choice but to approve the plan.  The vote is a mere formality and is NOT subjective, meaning, community opposition, environmental concerns, etc., cannot be factored in to vote against the plan. If the plan meets zoning and DC code, it legally must be passed as part of the “by-right” process.  The only way to have stopped this project from moving forward was in the Planning Commission meetings.

11.   Delaware law states that any land that is protected by the Land Conservation Fund, if sold, must have funds deposited into the endowment account to fund other projects.  This was not done.

12.   The sales contract must be approved by the FDRPC Board of Directors, but final approval was never given by the Board.  They raised concerns about the sale in early December 2019, but then-Executive Director, Jeffrey Randol proceeded to sign the sales contract at the end of that month without the required Board approval.

Unless someone comes forward to help us file a lawsuit based on the points above, I fear all hope is lost. 

I want to thank each and every one of you for the support and encouragement you’ve extended to me during this fight.  I appreciate all of you so very much and many of you have become friends, and for that I am truly grateful.  You put your trust and faith in me and I sincerely apologize for letting you down, I truly wish with all of my heart that justice would have prevailed and that we could have saved this land for future generations and for the animals who live there.  This travesty breaks my heart.

To all of those who participated in, encouraged, or failed to stop the sale of this protected land: you will regret the part you played sooner rather than later.  It matters not if your motivation was for personal or political gain or if ignorance, fear, or intimidation kept you from doing the right thing, you will be held accountable.