Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Keep boat ramps from harming our state parks

Re: House proposal just might float your boat, story, April 16.

There is a recognized need for boat ramps in the northern section of our county. The easy way out is to force the state parks (Honeymoon Island especially) or the county parks (Wall Springs, for example, or Pop Stansell Park in Palm Harbor) to include a boat ramp within their jurisdiction.

The trouble is that boat ramps bring high traffic, large parking areas to hold cars with trailers and a high concentration of boat traffic. Boat ramps cannot help but cause destruction of natural habitat that we in the county have so little of.

State Rep. Kim Berfield, R-Clearwater, has introduced House Bill 955 to force all state parks to review their facilities for potential water access areas for power boats - in other words, boat ramps. Honeymoon Island is the unspoken target. However, the management of Honeymoon Island has already said publicly that they do not want a boat ramp, that introducing a boat ramp on the Honeymoon Island causeway would be destructive to the aquatic grass areas and further degradation of the weekend traffic conditions would occur.

Ms. Berfield is trying to force the state park to consider boat ramps even though they have expressed their unwillingness to do so.

I don't want anything in my state parks that hurts the habitat. That is why we have state parks and why we are so fortunate here in Pinellas County to have three islands that are still undeveloped (Honeymoon, Caladesi and Anclote).

State parks are places where natural habitat is put aside for use of the people, not for the invasive and destructive development that a boat ramp entails.

If we need additional boat ramps, then why can't we place them in areas that have already been developed? There are lots of places along the water where there are seawalls and marinas and houses and even businesses. Why not use habitat that is already degraded instead of taking pristine natural areas which are in such short supply?

Don't forget neighborhood boat ramps

Re: House proposal just might float your boat, story, April 16.

I am a resident and business owner who uses the Pop Stansell Park boat ramp to launch our small boat. It is one of the reasons we bought our home just down the street from the park. In addition to amenities like the ball field, Pop Stansell Park and the historic downtown, the small boat ramp adds value to our quality of life.

Historically, it is the harbor in Palm Harbor and is in need of an upgrade so that it is safe. Pinellas County has determined that boat access to the waterways is being diminished as condos replace marinas. I think County Commissioner Susan Latvala's idea to put boat ramps on the former Stauffer Chemical property is a good one, especially if they can restore the environmental balance there and provide a space for bigger boats.

But don't forget about the neighborhood boat ramps. Let's redevelop small boat ramps like the one at Pop Stansell for kayaks and small boats, which have less of an impact on the environment we are all stewards of.

Conclusions inaccurate on airpark

First, the St. Petersburg Times campaigns to close Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, and that fails. Now, the focus has shifted to Clearwater Airpark.

According to staff writer Aaron Sharockman's very misleading article (Review of Clearwater Airpark: Pilots, planes older than most, April 3) and the editorial that followed (Airpark's record belies its defenders, April 8), Clearwater Airpark has 101 pilots. This would be the number of pilots who rent hangar or tie-down space at the airpark and not the number of pilots who use it. Based on more than 50,000 flight operations per year, each of these pilots would have to account for 495 flight operations.

Why not survey the hundreds of daily users of the airpark to determine their ages and the cities in which they live? During the times I've been at the airpark, I haven't noticed a large number of elderly pilots actually flying.

The article claimed that the airpark has lost $241,000 in the past four years. The airpark, like the municipal marina, is an enterprise fund and, as such, does not receive local general fund tax dollars. When major improvements occur, the Florida Department of Transportation generally pays for 50 percent of those. The city of Clearwater advances a loan to the airpark that is then paid back out of revenues. Interesting that you used four years instead of three, two or one. I'm sure you remember that all general aviation was shut down for a while after 9/11.

I am grateful that the city of Clearwater provides so many and varied recreational activities for its residents. The fact that we have a local airport gave me the opportunity to learn to fly when I turned 40 - a reward to myself. I am far from being one of the "rich snobs" other letter writers refer to. A few hours renting an airplane costs about the same as a day of golf at one of our local resorts.

Not only does the city provide an airpark and a marina, both self-supporting, it provides a sailing center, golf courses, swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, ball fields, playgrounds, dog parks, etc. - all paid for with general fund tax dollars. Some of these I use, others I don't, but I still pay for them with my tax dollars. These are quality-of-life issues.

I do not expect that the new extreme sports complex in my neighborhood will provide the majority of Clearwater residents with an athletic outlet or make a profit, but I predict that it will make a lot of noise. Since I bought my house 25 years ago, and the sports complex is currently being built, I reserve my right to complain. The same with the people who bought houses near the Glen Oaks Golf Course that now will contain soccer fields.

If you bought a house at the end of a runway, what did you expect? When I moved to Clearwater over 30 years ago, I lived in a house that was directly underneath the spot where airplanes from Clearwater Airpark released gliders. The engine slowdown and subsequent revving was a distraction. Therefore, when I was looking for another house, I checked flight paths to make sure I wasn't in one. It's called doing your due diligence.

Criticism of Hospice was off base

I followed with interest the Terri Schiavo case. My heart goes out to both the husband and the parents. I know firsthand what it is to watch a loved one dwindle down to nothing.

I have seen and heard people criticize Hospice of the Pinellas Suncoast and I wonder if these people have had firsthand experience with them. I have, and I don't know how I would have made it without them. They are the most wonderful, caring people I've ever met. That includes all of them - the chaplain, nurses, doctors and counselors.

When you speak of hospice, be sure and know what you are talking about and, most of all, remember that you may need them some day. No one is going to remember your face and smart remarks on TV.

I thank God every day for the assistance my family and I received from hospice.

[Last modified April 29, 2005, 00:34:18]