On March 1, the Cape Gazette’s editorial addressed the Love Creek recreational vehicle campground proposal. The piece was far from objective and clearly biased. Almost a thousand neighbors have spoken out against the 628-site proposed development, but the Jack Lingo Asset Management position was reflected in the editorial.
I am retired, but I volunteer to help the community and the environment. In my conservation efforts, I "work" with federal, state and not-for-profit environmental agencies. Without exception, the staffs of these agencies are concerned that the limited concessions evolving from the Lingo Asset Management Group proposal will not be enough to keep from destroying the unique natural habitat.
The editorial parroted that the developers “are committed to exceeding required buffers.” However the developers now also know that the property is home to rare and endangered wildlife. DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara stated in writing that DNREC “strongly believes that the site is worthy of permanent protection.”
The Nature Conservancy, the Center for Inland Bays, the Delaware Nature Society and others all recognize that the property is part of a larger natural ecosystem critical to the preservation of rare species and the health of Love Creek and Rehoboth Bay.
The habitat loss from the manipulation of the forested wetland will destroy the biodiversity of the area.
As currently proposed, leaving a perimeter of trees and required buffers will not protect the uncounted vernal pools that will be lost to create roads, dry high density parking and retention ponds. These vernal pools, also known as coastal plain seasonal ponds and Delmarva bays, are considered by DNREC as “perhaps Delaware’s most unique and important non-tidal wetland resource.”
For myself and many of my neighbors and conservationists, challenging the proposal is not a selfish “not-in-my-backyard” issue, but rather an attempt to highlight that this proposal benefits a very few but harms us all in the long run.
Lingo Asset Management has access to plenty of properties that could be suitable for a recreational vehicle campground. Developing these other locations would not sacrifice the habitat of a unique and rare Delaware environment.
Hollis G. Provins
Lewes
