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Letter to the editor

Battle over boat slips at final stage

Belle Harbor residents get their last chance to urge Clearwater officials to drop the plan.

By MIKE DONILA, Times Staff Writer
Published September 6, 2007

Residents of Clearwater Beach's Belle Harbor condominiums fear that creating public boat slips without 24-hour onsite security will allow drunk boaters to loiter until late at night, keeping them awake. City Council members contend that will not be the case and steps will be taken to ensure residents that there will not be a problem.
	[Times photo: Jim Damaske]

A group of Clearwater Beach residents is expected to make a last stand tonight against plans to build new boat slips next to their luxury condominiums.

Although the developer has downsized his plans, some residents in the Belle Harbor condominium tower are upset that some of the slips will stay open late, with no on-site security.

Condo prices in Belle Harbor range from the mid $300,000s to more than $2-million, and residents don't like the idea of being disturbed in the middle of the night.

"What happens if there is a boater out there at 3 a.m.?" Belle Harbor resident Ken Robulak said. "Maybe the mayor will give us his home phone number and we can call him at 3 a.m. and he'll do something about it."

Some city officials, though, say the plan is fine and that residents are worrying over nothing. But they're willing to listen.

"We've already gone through this and we've already approved the project with a high number of slips," Mayor Frank Hibbard said. "My understanding is that (the developer) was trying to be sensitive to the needs of Belle Harbor and reduced the numbers of slips and addressed some of their concerns. But we'll hear what (the residents) have to say."

In December, the City Council agreed to let JMC Communities of St. Petersburg, developer of the Sandpearl hotel and condo project on the beach's gulf side, build some docks a short walk away, on the beach's bay side.

The plan was to build 33 slips for guests and residents of the Sandpearl and 21 slips for the public in a basin on the east side of Mandalay Avenue, next to city tennis courts and near a recreation center and parking lot.

A month later, JMC officials met with residents and agreed to cut the total number of slips to 42, with 15 reserved for the city.

At issue now, though, is whether the city or the developer will supply on-site security. Both say no. But the Sandpearl Resort will have someone at the hotel on-call at all times

Also troubling to some Belle Harbor residents, including Council member Paul Gibson, is the proposed operating hours for the 15 public slips.

The proposed plan keeps them open from 5 a.m. to midnight. But opponents feel the late hours would bring out drunken revelers who make a lot of noise as they return to their boats from nearby bars and restaurants.

"Why not make it 24-7 and keep us up all night?" Gibson said sarcastically.

Council member Carlen Petersen, however, says it isn't fair to "characterize every boater who is out at midnight as an alcoholic or a drunk."

The council tonight is expected to tweak the operating hours for the public docks, most likely scaling them back to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The private docks would not be limited to these operating hours. But residents and council members say those boaters will be headed back to the Sandpearl during those late hours - not to the docks.

Ed Armstrong, the Clearwater attorney who represents JMC, said the operating hours for the 15 slips "is a city policy between Belle Harbor and others."

But he said it isn't fair for residents to continue targeting JMC about security since the developer downsized the project.

"We'll have someone on-call 24-7," he said. "We're only talking about 15 slips. Anything more than (someone on call) would be overkill."

Under the plan, JMC will pay the city $5,400 annually in rent. The city could renew the option every five years or buy the slips.

JMC would maintain the facilities, install security gates at the public docks and have Sandpearl staffers lock them at midnight.

If approved, work should begin in the fall and take as long as a year to complete.

Boat slips are a hot commodity in Pinellas County because hundreds have been eliminated in recent years by big waterfront developments. Clearwater, though, has worked to add more.

In March, voters approved a city plan to build 129 slips, a boardwalk and fishing pier near Coachman Park.

The project is scheduled to be finished in 2009.

Mike Donila can be reached at mdonila@sptimes.com or 445-4160.

Fast facts

If you go

What: The Clearwater City Council tonight will talk about a number of issues, including property taxes, its annual spending plan, roadside memorials and a boat slip project on Clearwater Beach. The public is allowed to speak on all of these issues.

When: 6 tonight

Where: Council chambers, third floor, City Hall, 112 S Osceola Ave.

To learn more: www.myclearwater.com.

[Last modified September 5, 2007, 22:06:08]