After public outcry, the county sets aside plans for ramps but will provide for launching canoes and kayaks.
By THERESA BLACKWELL
Published August 4, 2004
PALM HARBOR - When Pinellas County officials presented their plans for Wall Springs Park to the public in June, one message came crashing back over their heads.
No boat ramps.
So officials have effectively dropped the idea.
"It's just kind of fallen off the edge of the earth, off the agenda," County Commission Chairwoman Susan Latvala said this week.
The decision to cut a boat ramp out of the plans for Wall Springs Park is not yet official, but because of public opposition and other concerns, the ramp will not make it to the master plan, Latvala said.
"I can't support (boat ramps at) that site," she said Monday. "There are just too many challenges."
Those challenges include sea grass beds that could be disturbed, the possible need for dredging and the expense of seeking a permit that might be denied. Another big factor was the concerns of residents of Baywood Village, just north of the proposed ramps. They complained that boat traffic would fill the channel just past their docks.
"It would be like a parade on weekends," Latvala said. "All those boats would have to hug their docks, and government shouldn't do that to people."
Assistant County Administrator Jake Stowers said the County Commission will make the final call on boat ramps at Wall Springs Park based on comments from the staff and the public. Comments on the idea at the June meeting were "overwhelmingly opposed," he said.
"So it kind of follows that it probably won't happen," he said. "That's the bottom line."
Latvala and Stowers said the county is now working with the state on the possibility of building boat ramps on Honeymoon Island. The county might foot the bill for construction, with the state operating the ramps.
"You've got a state park," Stowers said. "You've got immediate access to deep water."
Another possibility is creating a boat ramp at H.S. "Pop" Stansell Park in Palm Harbor. The park now has a boat launching area, but parking and the entry to the water are unimproved.
When the Pop Stansell idea came up at a recent public meeting, 80 percent of residents supported it, said Ivan Fernandez, the division engineer for the civil site division of the county's Public Works Engineering Department.
But Latvala said issues with parking and cost effectiveness could still mean no ramp there. The commission could consider the Pop Stansell ramp in late September.
Meanwhile, construction is under way on the third phase of improvements to the southern section of Wall Springs Park, the county's largest tract of undeveloped coastal land. The area around the historic spring will be improved, with a new restroom nearby and more parking. Picnic Island will get picnic shelters, nature trails, a boardwalk and a 35-foot observation tower. A playground will be added on the mainland. The work is expected to be done before summer 2005.
While boat ramps appear to be out, each of the county's three possible plans for Wall Springs Park still include canoe and kayak launches, among other amenities, Fernandez said. Few people opposed the canoe and kayak launches, so the final plan likely will include them.
Ellen Pfau, Clearwater Audubon co-conservation chair, was happy to learn that Wall Springs would not get a boat ramp. She would like to replace the boat ramps on the plans with an observation tower.
"This is one of the few places left on the gulf that's so beautiful," she said. "If they take the boat ramps off, we're going to be very happy."
