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Letter to the editor

Teetotal in paradise?

Shell Key may soon welcome only sober boaters.

By NICK JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
Published August 15, 2007

The county draft of the Shell Key management plan bans booze, dogs and unpermitted camping.
	[Pinellas County]

The party may soon be over for hundreds of boaters who flock to Shell Key on weekends and holidays to socialize, sunbathe and drink.

The Shell Key Preserve Management Plan is due for an update this year, and the latest draft prohibits alcohol from the entire nature preserve.

County officials and organizers hope this will end the hordes that flock to the island on weekends and holidays to party in the shallows surrounding the key.

Last year 183 of the 193 citations written on the island were for illegal consumption or possession of alcohol, according to the county.

Although alcohol is not allowed on the island, there are no regulations once you step foot in the water.

The loophole has made it hard to enforce the law. Violators need only walk into the water if they see Sheriff's Office patrols.

"That became a game. They call it the Shell Key two-step," Will Davis, the director of environmental management for Pinellas County, said.

The draft of the new management plan would also ban dogs from the island, which are now permitted with a leash or supervision, and require overnight campers to have a permit from the county.

The county department of environmental management has been in charge of managing the key - one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands in the county - since a lease agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 2000.

The agreement requires the county to protect and conserve the natural environment of the preserve, which serves as an important habitat for nesting and migratory birds, but also provides for the recreational use the key has become known for.

The county contends that the recreational areas have gotten out of control, that excessive drinking and partying have disrupted the nesting birds and littered the beach with trash.

That's threatening the last refuge for shore nesting birds in the area, according to Anne Paul, the regional coordinator for the Audubon Society of Florida.

"It's a question of where in Pinellas County are we going to have a wildlife refuge, or are we not going to have one and not have that wildlife," Paul said.

No other parks or environmental lands in the county allow alcohol, so banning it would not be out of the ordinary.

But Shell Key has always been known as a place where boaters go to drink and socialize.

"I think there's a lot of responsible boaters out there who drink responsibly, and we're being blamed for what a few idiots are doing," David Reynard said.

He has been going to Shell Key for decades and represents recreational boaters for the Shell Key Advisory Group.

Reynard said he knows a group of about 150 boaters who frequent the island and drink on the weekends, and they do so responsibly and are conscious of the preserve.

"Nobody in my group ever gets sloppy drunk, and if they do, they just fall down and pass out. They don't get obnoxious," he said.

Davis, the director of environmental management, said he understands that not all boaters drink irresponsibly, but that alcohol is the catalyst for most of the problems on Shell Key.

"There certainly are people who drink out there who are responsible and don't cause problems. But at the same time we don't have any way to allow them to, and not allow the people to drink who are causing problems," Davis said.

The Shell Key Advisory Group will meet to go over the draft this month, and the County Commission will have to approve the final draft in October before the new rules take effect.

Nick Johnson can be reached at nickjohnson@sptimes.com or 893-8361.

Key meetings

Meetings for Shell Key Preserve Management Plan:

The Shell Key Advisory Group: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 29, Pinellas County Extension Office Auditorium, 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo.

County Commission workshop: 9:30 a.m. Sept. 11, Commission Chambers, 315 Court St., Clearwater.

County Commission adoption of the plan: 9:30 a.m. Oct. 2, Commission Chambers, 315 Court St., Clearwater.

[Last modified August 14, 2007, 22:24:48]