Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
New rules for Shell Key aired tonight
The public can weigh in on the draft plan, which widens the ban on alcohol.
By NICK JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
Published August 29, 2007
|
Alcohol is currently prohibited on Shell Key, but allowed in the surrounding waters, which have become a popular hangout for boaters on weekends and holidays.
|
 |
|
[Pinellas County]
|
The Shell Key Advisory Group is holding a public meeting tonight to discuss the proposed 2007 Shell Key Management Plan. The plan will replace one from 2000 that was adopted by the county after the preserve was leased from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The current draft of the 2007 plan creates stricter rules for overnight camping, bans dogs on the island and, the most controversial change, prohibits alcohol from the entire preserve. Alcohol is currently prohibited on the island but allowed in the surrounding waters, which have become a popular hangout for boaters on weekends and holidays. Officials from the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management and conservation groups say the partying has gotten out of hand and is becoming detrimental to the preserve. The boundaries of the preserve are from the waters directly surrounding the island to the shoreline of Tierra Verde and the Pinellas Bayway. "The focus of the enforcement will be at Shell Key," said Will Davis, director of the Environmental Management Department. This will be the last public meeting before the County Commission meets in September for a workshop on the new plan. Officials will consider opinions of the Shell Key Advisory Committee and residents will be given three minutes each to comment during the meeting tonight. Nick Johnson can be reached at nickjohnson@sptimes.com or 893-8361. If you go Shell Key Advisory Board meeting When: 6:30 tonight Where: Pinellas County Extension Auditorium 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo
[Last modified August 28, 2007, 22:50:37]
Share your thoughts on this story
Comments on this article
|
by Sam
|
09/01/07 05:04 PM
|
|
DUI while boating is against the law same as driving a car. So, have a 100 yard perimeter around the island that is alcohol free. Anyone caught drinking in that area is subject to arrest. Outside the perimeter they are subject to the DUI laws.
|
|
by Dawn
|
08/31/07 03:40 PM
|
|
With the Key constantly patroled by the Sheriff's Dept., I don't feel there's a need for harsher rules. They do a good job out there and as long as people don't litter, we should be able to enjoy Shell Key.
|
|
by Greg
|
08/30/07 09:28 AM
|
|
Typically when you are interested in protecting a preservation area you look at the affects that boats are having on the area. It would be nice to know some of those affects. Right now it looks like people just want to ban alcohol.
|
|
by Nick
|
08/29/07 08:42 AM
|
|
Great, here's another loss of liberty and freedom in the name of environmental preservation...This is beginning to feel like a gestapo state.
|
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Letter to the editor
