Dear friends & neighbors, I have some significant updates to share regarding our efforts to return Fort DuPont State Park back to the public trust. I encourage you to read through each and then follow our call to action at the end.
Update 1: Lawsuit to return Grassdale to the State of Delaware
As many of you know, my co-plaintiff, Jack Guerin, and I filed a lawsuit with the Delaware Court of Chancery in January 2023 (2023-0043). We contacted numerous attorneys but none would take the case against the State so we were forced to file pro se. Jack has done an exemplary job of handling all of the legal documentation required for the lawsuit, there is no way I could have done this without him. We named Shawn Garvin, then-DNREC Secretary, as the Defendant. Mr. Garvin was the logical choice as the Fort DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Corporation is a division of DNREC, making him ultimately responsible for the FDRPC's actions, and also in a position to reverse the sale.
Vice Chancellor Glasscock was assigned to our case. We received correspondence from the court stating that the case could not be heard without joining all other interested parties. We responded by joining the FDRPC/Executive Director Tim Slavin, the purchaser/Sun Fort, the Campground Management company/Blue Water Development, and even Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings. They were all served in April 2023. In August 2023 Vice Chancellor Glasscock called a teleconference with my co-plaintiff, Jack Guerin, and counsel for DNREC and FDRPC. The focus on this teleconference was Vice Chancellor Glasscock's concern about required legal standing for the complaint. Shortly after the teleconference I wrote an Affidavit of Standing and submitted it to the court, detailing all of the reasons why I have legal standing to bring the case and by association as co-plaintiff, that standing extends to Jack Guerin. Afterward, there was no substantive correspondence from Vice Chancellor Glasscock who retired at the end of 2024. In January 2025 we were notified by the new Vice Chancellor, Bonnie W. David, that if we did not join the other required parties identified in early 2023 by January 31, 2025, the claim would be denied by the court. We responded that month to notify the court that all parties had, indeed, been joined and served, and if there was something else left to do to please advise what it may be. In February 2025 we received notice that, without ever ruling on the merits of our case or even hearing it, our claim was denied and dismissed by the court.
Update 2: Grassdale Purchaser Changes
In the FDRPC Board Meeting minutes from October 2024, the board is tasked with evaluating the fiscal viability of Todd Burbage from Blue Water Development and his ability to fulfill the 2.1-million-dollar outstanding loan for Grassdale due in October 2025, as there was a request to change the purchaser from Sun Fort to Todd Burbage/Blue Water Development. As a refresher, Blue Water Development presented themselves as the purchaser and developer from the beginning, it wasn't until shortly before the purchase that Sun Fort was introduced. The sales contract was never authorized by the FDRPC Board, rendering the contract illegal, the protections were never removed from the property, rendering the title invalid. Upon discovering the potential change in ownership, I reached out in early March to Delaware City Mayor & Council, Delaware City Manager, and the FDRPC to find out if a new sales contract and/or new approvals would be required if the purchaser changed. Only Councilman Dudlek had the professionalism and courtesy to respond to me. He followed up with Mayor Johnson who had turned my email over to City Solicitor Rhodunda. In the March 17, 2025, Mayor & Council meeting, Mr. Rhodunda advised that new rounds of approvals would only be required if the RV Campground plans changed but would not be required based on a change in ownership alone.
Update 3: Grassdale is now for sale
On Monday, March 24, 2025, Colliers listed the 135.75-acre Grassdale property located at 100 N Reedy Pt Road, Delaware City FOR SALE as a "Mobile Home/RV Park." They are including the approved RV Campground plans in the sale. No price is listed for the property, but for reference, a 0.3 acre building lot at Fort DuPont is currently for sale at a price of $125,000. Using that ratio, Grassdale would be worth approximately $375,000/acre or over $50 million. It isn't all prime/buildable property so I don't think it will sell for that much but will still draw a multi-million-dollar profit for Blue Water Development. Not bad for a 1.5-million-dollar investment made several years ago built on lies, broken promises, and illegal activity. The FDRPC sold the property for a massively under-valued rate and then floated the remainder of the loan (2.1 million) for years, it's due October 2025. Think about that for a second. Imagine selling your $400,000 home for $40,000 and after receiving a downpayment of less than $20,000 you hand over the keys to the new owner and tell them you can wait a few years for the balance. During that time, they gut the house, pull out all of the landscaping, and then abandon the property for a few years, only to come back a few months before the balance of their loan is due and put a "For Sale" sign up in the front yard for a sale price 10x or more what they paid you for it. That's EXACTLY what is happening here. The FDRPC sold the property at a massively discounted price of 3.6 million dollars and did NO market research on the viability of an RV Campground. Let's also remember that Blue Water did NOT keep their promises to the City including preserving most of the trees, maintaining the property, improving/widening Reedy Point Road, and paying for the traffic circle. They're in for a windfall though. Here is the listing. Commercial-Specialty For sale — 100 N Reedy Pt Rd, Delaware City, DE 19706, USA | United States | Colliers
For those of you who can remember my warnings about this, you'll recall that I said once the property is sold it will be developed, eventually, for housing. That's where the real money is. Blue Water makes millions on the raw land, the next owner will make millions more after they build on it. The farce of an RV Campground laid the foundation to steal the property from The People, and it still may open if that is what is required to get to the next step. But rest assured, if it does open, it will be short lived and then the owners will want to develop the land for waterfront condos or some other housing. I'm pretty sure THAT has been the goal all along. The campground was a ruse to get them this far, and well, Phase 1 is now complete.
Let me also remind you that not only was your protected-in-perpetuity, preserved, state park land STOLEN from you, but that the thieves used YOUR MONEY to do it! And they continue to do so! Why? Well, the FDRPC is primarily funded by the Bond Bill, which is funded by YOUR TAX DOLLARS. It was your own money that allowed the FDRPC to conduct the Grassdale sale the way it did. YOUR MONEY funded the corrupt attorney who wrote the code and zoning for Fort DuPont, tying the hands of the city and paving the way for the development of protected park land. YOUR MONEY funded the $150,000 sales commission to Chris Castagno for an "UNSOLICITED OFFER" by Blue Water Development to purchase Grassdale. YOUR MONEY floated the 2.1-million-dollar loan for years. YOUR MONEY funded the FDRPC as they disregarded protections and laws, undermined your rights and continues to do so. Next up is the development of federally protected Fort DuPont State Park lands on the river side of the property, a project that Delaware City Council had an opportunity to stop but voted to advance even after the public denounced the project. Your hard-earned tax dollars, exploited to make a select few very, very rich.
Update 4: Ordinance 24-130 Passed by New Castle County Council
Here is the one bit of good news. Last October I, and many, many others, spoke in favor of NCC Ordinance 24-130 sponsored by Councilpersons Durham and Carter. Last night it was passed unanimously by New Castle County Council. This ordinance creates a new NCC zone of "P" to be assigned to all Parks and Preserved lands in the county. It adds another layer of protection for these lands but, sadly, can be usurped just like the protections and laws that safeguarded Grassdale. Still, a great step in the right direction and wonderful knowing that our experience with Grassdale helped get this one over the finish line, but sadly, too late for Fort DuPont State Park.
Call to Action:
On February 5, 2025 I submitted a Position Paper titled "Delaware Failed Its Citizens: The People's Position on Fort DuPont" and sent it to Governor Matt Meyer and DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson. This paper summarizes many of the issues with Fort DuPont and asks that the Governor take the lead in resolving these issues. Please contact your representatives, the governor's office, and DNREC and tell them you want the State Park land, all of it, returned to the public trust and protected from development. Our lawsuit and the Position Paper suggest a legal method to return the land using laws already in place.
Matthew.Meyer@delaware.gov
Greg.Patterson@delaware.gov
Melissa.MinorBrown@delaware.gov
Nicole.Poore@delaware.gov
If you would like a copy of the Position Paper or the lawsuit, please send me a private message and I can send the documents to you, as I cannot attach them to this post.
As always, I sincerely thank you for sticking with me this far, and for all of your support!
~erica