By Dan Shortrige | Mar 12, 2010 | Delaware Online
The son of a Delaware state senator is proposing to build a casino in a popular state-owned park along Sussex County’s beaches.
The plan by Clinton Bunting — son of state Sen. George Bunting, D-Bethany Beach, who represents the area and is opposed to expanding gambling in the state — would turn an area on the bay side of Delaware Seashore State Park near the Indian River Inlet Bridge into a casino, hotel, restaurant, retail and conference center.
Clinton Bunting, a real estate developer involved in several commercial and residential projects along the coast, mentioned Atlantic City and Las Vegas as inspiration for the casino. Those gambling destinations draw mostly visitors from outside the area, not year-round residents, he noted.
“Having it in the heart of the tourist region, being able to draw from Ocean City, Md., all the way to the Lewes beaches, is just common sense,” he said.
The $35 million project faces substantial hurdles beyond winning approval from the General Assembly to add more gambling venues in the state. It also would have to get an OK for the lease of state parkland.
Sen. Bunting said he’ll recuse himself from any vote or debate on his son’s project should it come before the Legislature, but acknowledged he’s been feeling heat about the proposal nonetheless.
“It’s a difficult situation to be in,” he said. “I’m not going to go out there and bad-mouth my son.”
Reaction among coastal residents is divided. Some are concerned about increased traffic and effects of gambling while others welcome the jobs and business it would bring.
Some local leaders in towns flanking the park, a long strip of scenic waterfront on both sides of Del. 1, say they’re worried about how the project would transform the resort area.
Dewey Beach, with a raucous summer reputation, sits to the north, and the quieter towns of Bethany Beach and South Bethany are to the south.