After years of fighting for our basic health and safety in Donovan-Smith park, and all the feigned concern from the City of Lewes, they showed that their true allegiance is with the owner and his development company.
They held workshops and meetings, and asked us what we wanted, and above all else we wanted a 20-foot separation between units for fire safety. They made the changes we wanted, and we compromised on others ... or so we thought.
In one fell swoop, Councilman Khalil Saliba was allowed to change everything back to what John Paradee, the lawyer who represents park co-owner Ken Burnham, wanted from the beginning. One by one, the fellow members voted in line with his proposal, with one member displaying openly that they were just tired of discussing it. I am so sorry we took up so much of your time and grey matter, but this is our lives and our homes.
I drank the Kool-Aid briefly and thought the city wanted to improve our standard of living, and encourage the management to make improvements to the infrastructure and the appearance of our community, but now we are going to see more trailers shoved into every nook and cranny for the next 20 years.
You may ask, why 20 years? Because the owner accepted state funds to connect to city water and sewer, and to qualify for the grant, he had to agree not to apply for a land-use change for 20 years.
I fully expect that in 20 years, when I am 80 years old, I will be told I need to vacate the park and my home will be completely worthless. At that point, you will see townhomes or apartments go into that area.
This will leave the working poor, elderly and minority population vulnerable and unable to afford to live in the area. Once again, the dream of affordable housing in this area goes up in smoke. Good luck finding people to work in your restaurant or your hotels, or cleaning your house.
They patted us on our heads and said when he applies for a conditional-use permit and has submitted his plans to the city for approval, that’s when we can put conditions on it such as upgrading the electrical grid, etc. I find this either very naive on the part of the city or else they are playing the long game with the owners. They assume he is actually going to apply for a permit.
This is a prime piece of property. After 20 years, the city would love to see it developed into anything other than a manufactured home park.
I can feel the boot heel on my neck and the train tracks going down my back right next to the knife city council shoved in my back.
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