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Would mooring fields be eco-friendly or eyesores?

Economic and environm ental issues await officials considering solutions to the boat slip shortage.

By CRISTINA SILVA
Published December 10, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Willie Allen Jr.] A derelict boat called the Eagle lists, grounded near Hurrican Hole west of Bay Pines VA Hospital and east of Madeira Beach.

The idea of setting up mooring buoys in waterways throughout the county has increasingly been touted by Pinellas officials as a potential solution to a growing boat slip shortage in the past two years.

Considered cheaper to construct than marinas, mooring fields are also gaining in popularity because they give municipalities greater control over banning derelict vessels.

But the effort has roused concern among conservationists and residents who worry the mooring fields will become eyesores, dotting the coast with abandoned boats, and providing little incentives for tax payers who could end up footing the cost of construction.

"It is going to be ugly," said Michele King, a City Council member in Gulfport, of a plan to build a mooring field in the city's limited bay area downtown. "When you line 50 boats up in a row it is not attractive anymore."

In recent months, officials in Gulfport, Treasure Island, Indian Rocks Beach, St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County have tentatively considered installing mooring fields.

Officials are betting that a greater number of mooring options will attract more boaters to the area and bring in more tourism dollars.

"They are relatively easy to maintain," said Dave Metz, director of downtown enterprise facilities for St. Petersburg, which is considering putting up a mooring field around Big Bayou. "You just have to find the right location."

While mooring fields are common in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, government officials said they could not name similar projects in Pinellas.

Mooring fields are like floating parking lots. Boaters tie up to a buoy secured with a cable to the ocean floor. They then go to and from shore in dinghies.

It is considered eco-friendly because boaters do not have to drop their anchors, which can damage sea grass.

But opponents point out that little research has been done statewide on the economic and environmental impact of mooring fields.

Some fear boaters moored in the fields will dump waste in the water instead of traveling in dinghies to use facilities or a pumping station on shore.

Van Williams, a lifelong boater, said mooring fields are too flimsy.

In Gulfport, he predicts heavy winds or a surge of water during a hurricane would litter the downtown area with boats carried out by the storm.

"It is like 50 guided missiles," said Williams, 61, of St. Petersburg. "At least if you are in a marina, you are more protected."

Government officials are also considering how much it would cost to purchase additional marina space, but they said something will need to be done soon.

A boom in boat ownership and waterfront development has resulted in fewer boat slips and officials believe it will only get worse.

Pinellas County has 580 fewer boat slips this year than in 2005, and most cities have long waiting lists for the marina space that they do have available.

"It is just tough getting waterfront property anymore at a reasonable cost," said Paul Cozzie, parks director for the county. "Developers have deeper pockets."

The county is considering an agreement with St. Petersburg College, which owns Hurricane Hole in Madeira Beach, that would allow them to regulate the site.

The water there is already a popular unofficial mooring field, where boaters just anchor their boats at will, often leaving deteriorating vessels behind.

King said boaters will continue to anchor their boats freely, despite the mooring fields. A municipality can only regulate the area directly in the mooring field, not the water surrounding it.

For many cities, the model of a successful boating community is Vero Beach, which erected the state's first mooring field in 1986.

The field has brought more boaters into the community, said Tim Grabenbauer, the Vero Beach harbor master who recently spoke at a boating forum in St. Petersburg.

According to Grabenbauer, boats have broken free from the lines a few times because of strong winds. The city hired a tug boat to return the boats to the water, he said.

"It wasn't a big problem," he said. "The mooring field overall is a success story."

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727-893-6181 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 9, 2006, 20:02:26]