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By KATHERINE GAZELLA
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 9, 2001
TARPON SPRINGS -- Boaters who have grown accustomed to speeding between the southern shore of the Anclote River and a string of spoil islands should slow down, city officials voted Tuesday.
The City Commission voted to extend a no-wake zone in the river to a narrow channel known for speeding boats. Commissioners said they were concerned that someone would be injured because of the excessive speeds of boats and personal watercraft.
Enforcement of the ordinance will have to wait at least several weeks, until the ordinance is approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The city will try to get the other agencies to quickly approve the ordinance, said Capt. Bob Kochen of the Tarpon Springs Police Department.
Violators will face a warning or a fine from the Florida Marine Patrol. Eventually, the city may decide to re-assign a Tarpon Springs police officer to the river, said Mayor Frank DiDonato.
The no-wake zone currently runs from the Alt. U.S. 19 bridge to Marker 32, which is just east of where Florida Avenue meets the river. The new idle zone would be on the south side of the river between the spoil islands and the shoreline from Marker 32 west almost to the Pasco County line. The no-wake zone would not extend to the northern bank of the river.
Some officials consider the area one of the most dangerous parts of the river.
"It is a death waiting to happen, in my opinion," DiDonato said recently.
Some residents said the ordinance is a good start but that the city still needs to consider expanding the no-wake zone for the width of the river. Laz Vostitsanos, who lives a few channel markers away from the no-wake zone extension, said he wants the city to expand it to behind his house.
"Right behind my house is a manatee estuary," he told commissioners. "Apparently you people don't care."
Jim Kolianos, who lives along the river, said he was pleased the city was making some progress.
"We ended up with at least half of what we wanted," he said.
DiDonato said this isn't the end of the city's efforts. He said the city will look at expanding the no-wake zone across the river, but commissioners had decided to go ahead with the area south of the spoil islands first since most residents supported that limited expansion.
"I don't know that it's necessarily a closed issue," DiDonato said.
- Staff writer Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182.