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Boat ramp bill on Bush's desk

The legislation requires studies of ramps at state parks. Local environmentalists already oppose one proposed for Honeymoon Island.

By RICHARD DANIELSON
Published May 11, 2005

A bill requiring state officials to study putting boat ramps at waterfront state parks like Honeymoon Island made it through the Legislature and awaits a decision from Gov. Jeb Bush.

That's potentially good news for boaters who want more access to the water and Pinellas County officials who have offered to spend $2-million building a ramp at Honeymoon Island.

Local environmentalists, however, are not so pleased about the prospect of a Honeymoon Island ramp.

"Boaters certainly have a right to use their boats; I'm one of them," said Dee Dubendorff, 70, a Clearwater Audubon Society board member who led the effort in the early 1970s to have Honeymoon Island purchased for public use. "But you don't put a boating facility in a place that pristine and beautiful. You find a place that won't be ruined or deeply damaged by such a facility."

State Rep. Kim Berfield, R-Clearwater, sponsored the bill, which does a lot more than commission a study of state parks. House Bill 955 generally aims to preserve and help redevelop waterfront areas so that Floridians continue to have access to the water.

Berfield said she introduced the bill because marinas and other points of access to the water are closing statewide. Among the events that led her to sponsor the bill was last year's closure of the 300-boat High and Dry Marina on Island Estates. The marina was purchased for $5.2-million to make way for a 55-unit, high-end condominium complex.

"These facilities are closing because they're being offered very handsome amounts of money for that property," Berfield said.

In addition to focusing on preserving marinas, the bill would require the state Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to study "the current use of state parks for purposes of recreational boating and identify opportunities for increasing recreational boating access within the state park system." The study would be due Jan. 1.

In North Pinellas, county officials have said it's getting harder and harder to find new spots for public boat ramps. County proposals to add or improve ramps at Wall Springs Park and H.S. "Pop" Stansell Park in Palm Harbor both stalled last year. After that, county officials offered to build a four-lane boat ramp at Honeymoon Island, then turn it over to the state, which could collect the fees.

State park officials said thanks but no thanks in February. The project, they said, would damage endangered mangroves and sensitive grasses and could create traffic problems.

Berfield said her bill would not mandate the construction of boat ramps at state parks. The study could determine, for example, that a particular project would injure sea grasses and bird habitats.

"We're just saying we need somebody to go in and make a clear determination whether or not it's feasible," she said.

For now, the county's offer to build a Honeymoon Island ramp stands, though assistant county administrator Jake Stowers said the passage of the bill is no guarantee that the project will take place.

"Let's see where the study goes," he said.

Along with offering to build the ramp at Honeymoon Island, county officials are studying the issue generally. A county boating access task force will hold its first meeting to discuss access to waters around Pinellas at 5 p.m. May 26 in Room 211 of the Swisher Building, 509 East Ave. S, Clearwater.

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

[Last modified May 11, 2005, 00:46:18]