Stephanie Smith wrote a recent and thoughtful letter reacting to your editorial on record home demolitions in Rehoboth Beach. She points out that existing regulations intended to deter “mini mansions” and “mini motels” in residentially zoned neighborhoods could restrict the upgrade of houses here for owners seeking to move down full time in retirement. That needs to be examined.
Her letter points up a collision between the prevailing vision of Rehoboth as a city of neighborhoods, or a new Rehoboth as a tourist destination, as promoted by Paul Kuhns and his (mostly) humble minions in the city commission.
The tourism lobby is adrenaline laced, as in your reporting on two recent Chamber of Commerce speeches by local businesspersons.
One suggested any idea of traffic congestion on Route 1 was a fantasy (Hel-looooo?) and another suggested turning Grove Park into an underground parking lot (so much for the farmers market.)
I suggest this is an elemental struggle for Rehoboth’s future. And a wakeup call for longtime homeowners whose taxes, political support, work on city commissions and boards, and neighborhood pride created the Golden Goose others now want to pluck.
Do we want to surrender to outsiders in Sussex County, Dover, and the LLC factories in Wilmington? It would be a shame.
And to our lifestyle’s and family economic detriment.
The upcoming municipal election in August offers a strong chance for Rehoboth insiders to vote to save themselves from the outsiders.
Stan Heuisler
Rehoboth Beach
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
