| | | | | | | |
|
|
|
|
History Repeats Itself as Battle of the Beach Usage Continues
501 Views ::
0 Comments ::  |
Age old Stories, Developers vs. Citizen’s right to use beach, State Guidelines on Setback Line for Beachfront Building and Sea Weed removal Spark Controversies
Phil Reynolds of the South Jetty Reporter has written a report on that the city council was considering beach-related items on Thursday, March 20, it was also asked to consider banning all recreational vehicle (RV) camping on city beaches - something it was reluctant to do.
The move was requested by Newport Beach and Golf. Partner Sunny Castor told the council that Newport Beach and Golf Ltd., which is developing the high-end property, had agreed to allow RV camping between beach markers 27 and 34 while the property was being developed.
Now that sales of the property are under way, he said, potential buyers are put off by the sight of RVs on the beach in front of lots. "In the past few weeks, I've taken some people to good properties and gone to some good views, and they've said, 'What are those ugly things there?' And I've had to say they're RVs," Castor said.
"People don't want to see RVs in front of their properties, so we have two worlds colliding -- the people who want to drive down there, park their RVs and enjoy the beach, and the people on much more expensive property there," Kovacs said, adding that there were problems with waste water discharge from trailers and motor homes on the beach in 2005.
City Planning and Projects Director David Parsons agreed that Newport Beach and Golf owns that part of the beach. "From beach access road 1A, all property owners own down to the high water line", he said. "The (RVs) are on private property per se. What comes into play is the Texas Open Beaches Act, which gives public access to the beach." "It's like having an easement on property you own," City Attorney Mike Morris said. "If there's concrete over it, it doesn't make any difference whether you own it or not."
"I've always been leery of RVs on the beach, because it takes away from the RV parks, but I hope nobody ever tries to close the beach," Bujan said. However, Mayor Claude Brown noted that there are problems with trying to move all the RVs into parks: "The RV parks don't allow some RVs there because of the age of the RVs," he said. "You get a lot of campers who tow trailers down here.
They didn't come down here to stay in an RV park; they came to stay on the beach. Finding a park that will accept you with an older motor home is tough."
Brown also said restricting RVs on the beach conflicts with a new city ordinance that bans public drinking on the beach during March.
"When we wrote the ordinance on drinking on the beach, we said they could go into their RV and drink," he said. "When I see something like this (proposal), I think when you have a tire that keeps going flat, the proper thing to do is to fix the tire, not keep pumping it up. We're slowly taking away these people's rights. I know people spend seven digits down there (at Newport Beach and Golf), and they have rights, but these people have rights, too, and I'd hate to tell them they can't camp on the beach."
Councilman Bubba Jensen suggested simply repealing the original ordinance that limits RV camping to between beach markers 27 and 34: "We need to undo what happened last time, and at least not concentrate and push everything down there," he said. "I'd hate to see the beach be closed."
"Right now you can park anywhere on the beach, but you can't stay overnight (except between markers 27 and 34), and there there's a three-day limit," Kovacs said. "We're actually following our comprehensive plan, which says when we get complaints from business owners; we'll try to take care of them." Hall suggested putting the matter before voters in a city-wide referendum.
The unanimous council vote was to tell the staff to bring an ordinance that repeals the existing law restricting RV camping to between beach markers 27 and 34. Only time will tell the outcome. Who knows maybe the citizen’s of Port Aransas will get to vote on the issue?
In other news: the state is putting together a new set of guidelines to help coastal counties plan for beachfront building
according to an article by Beth Wilson of the Caller. 
Biscayne Beachfront Community in Crystal Beach
"on the Bolivar Peninsula we don't disturb the dunes
and go to great efforts to protect our 30 miles of beach"
- Thad Feton, Onwer-Developer of the Biscayne
Felton also donated over 350 acres of land behind the
development for a nature preserve.
Nueces County's existing beach management plan likely will comply with the new state guidelines, but other coastal counties may have to make adjustments.
The Texas General Land Office is working to amend its rules about coastal planning and management of beaches and dunes to include a specific section related to setbacks, a line that construction must be behind.
The state has broad guidelines to help the 14 coastal counties prepare for erosion and protect public access to beaches. The counties follow their own beach management plans, which may be stricter or more lenient, but if a county's plans are more lenient than the state rules, counties risk losing federal money to combat erosion.
Nueces County already has such a setback line, set at 350 feet from the dune vegetation line, the strictest in the state. The line is in the county's beach management plan that considers where and how beachfront building should be done given factors of erosion, wave action, sinking land and rising sea level.
"We feel there won't be any significant changes because of the planning we've already done," he said. "We'll continue with our approach that we've had for the last eight years, and hope that the federal funding becomes available for coastal erosion response."
The state gave $17.3 million for shoreline stabilization and beach re-nourishment projects last year. After the draft is reviewed during a 30-day public comment period, General Land Office staff will review those comments over six months and the rule may be adjusted before final approval.
In the Coastal Bend, Nueces County would be most affected because counties are required to have beach and dune plans only if they have gulf-facing beaches that are accessible by public road or ferry.
Nueces County's 350-foot setback rule stirred controversy last year when it was approved as part of the county's beach management plan after several years as the guiding policy. Some saw it as protection for both the environment and development. Others thought the rule would chill development and encroach on waterfront owners' property rights.
"We're encouraging best practices along the coast," land office spokesman Jim Suydam said. "And we're doing it in a way that allows for local control."
"Every section of the coast is different," she said. "They will have to be tweaked in some way. They can't just rubber stamp (our rules)."
Some coastal areas are already developed, such as South Padre Island. Areas already platted and built are expected to be grandfathered in and not be impacted by any changes. Other areas, such as Brazoria County, are more undeveloped and any future building would be subject to these new rules.
According to Jaime Powell, reporter for the Caller, the annual seaweed-on-the-beach balancing act has begun as local officials work to do what's best for the environment while keeping the diamond in the local tourism crown clean enough to draw visitors.
Sargassum, the proper name for the masses of plant life that carpet local beaches from March through June, slows beach erosion and strengthens the dunes with its mix of rotting plant matter and fish. But it also piles up two or three feet high along the shore, where the trash entangled in it and the odor from the fish send tourists scurrying across its prickly surface to their cars and the nearest exit.
The usual complaints have started from hotel managers afraid they are losing bookings and tourists who don't know what to make of the mess at the beach. "We don't keep a log but we do get a lot of calls and a lot of concerns," said Keith Arnold, president and CEO of the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We are still in the same place as last year. Can we find a way to balance the two things (environment and tourism)? We have to."
At the Padre Island National Seashore, officials rake the seaweed near the visitor’s center but leave the majority of the territory alone, said Juan Rodriguez, who is in charge of public education programs at the National Seashore.
"It's not garbage," he said. "It's a natural phenomenon." Neighboring jurisdictions, however, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to clear the beaches during peak tourist season -- Memorial Day to Labor Day. Beach maintenance crews from Nueces County and the cities of Corpus Christi and Port Aransas have nearly 28 miles of collective beaches and they work to rake the seaweed and move it to the dunes, where it can help battle erosion.
 "We have kind of changed up our system, as far as trying to maintain only the areas with the highest public use, which is the northern part of the beach closest to the city," said City Manager Michael Kovacs. "Further south we are trying to leave it alone, though we still maintain the roadway."
After years of dealing with the annual seaweed influx, tourism officials like Arnold and Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ann Vaughan said their best response to complaints is education.
"We just try our best to educate them and say there is only so much we can do," Vaughan said. "We say, 'It's a way of life down here and we have gotten where we deal with it and we hope you understand."
As usual our beaches and their use are a subject that can stir up strong opinions from all involved. Beachfront property owners want to own the beach, environmentalists want the beach left to nature and average citizens mostly want to use the beaches as they have for years.
Coastal issues are discussed locally and nationally. Who knows what the future will bring in the beach use battle. The only thing for certain is that almost everyone will have an opinion that supports their vision of beach use.
Island Park Estates on Mustang Island has one of the few beachfronts that is almost private, protected by the jetties from it's neighbor, Mustang Island State Park. The developers also went through careful planning to set the development far back from the beach behind the dunes and built an innovative walkway over the dunes that is wide enough to drive a golf cart over. Another development on Mustang Island, Cinnamon Shore, implemented similar ideas and conversation efforts.
Island Park Estates and Cinnamon Shore are two examples of developers looking after the interests of the community and beaches without having to have Government mandates. We congratulate such forward thinking developers. |
|
|
|
|
| Comments | Currently, there are no comments. Be the first to post one!
Click here to post a comment |
|
| | | | | | | |
|
|