Virginia Beach
The Army Corps of Engineers has approved a 76-slip marina near the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge despite objections from environmentalists, several government agencies and the mayor's office.
In its permit, issued Friday after more than three years of debate and protest, the corps said the proposed Wilkins Mooring and Launching Facility would not pose serious risks to Back Bay or the refuge.
The agency would require the developer to use several special safeguards to ensure ecological protection.
Among them are restrictions against any new personal watercraft at the marina, a horsepower limit on boats that can operate there, and a no-wake zone within 100 yards of any part of the refuge, located on the remote, southern edge of Virginia Beach along the Atlantic Ocean.
"My clients are grateful that this extraordinarily long and thorough process has ended with a permit," Glenn Croshaw, an attorney representing developer Doug Wilkins and his partners, said Wednesday.
"Frankly, we don't feel every rule and restriction is necessary," Croshaw added, "but we understand the corps had to address the public concerns raised out there, and we respect that."
Environmentalists in the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach, who have fought the project for years, said they were disappointed with the decision and vowed to continue their opposition.
"We're all just dumbfounded," said Cheryl Petticrew, an environmentalist who has lived in Sandbridge for 30 years.
Petticrew said opponents will contest city and state permits that still must be obtained before construction can begin.
Wilkins first applied for a corps permit in 2005 to build a marina about one-sixth of a mile from the refuge entrance, in a northern part of Back Bay. It would require some dredging to establish deep water, and would provide anchorage for 76 boats belonging exclusively to local residents.
The project was immediately criticized by environmentalists and government officials as a dangerous harbinger of commercial expansion into the rugged Sandbridge area, rich in wetlands, wildlife and privacy.
More than 350 letters and e-mails soon flooded the corps office in Norfolk, many urging that the permit be denied. Critics included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Defenders of Wildlife and the Back Bay Restoration Foundation.
Mayor Meyera Oberndorf sent a letter in 2005 arguing that the project, if allowed, could jeopardize millions of dollars spent on conserving Back Bay and ensuring the refuge remains a haven for migratory birds and waterfowl.
The developer halted the federal process and focused instead on winning city zoning approval. When that failed, he asked the corps to take up the permit again.
A fter much negotiation, including bargaining sessions with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the corps approved the project with multiple caveats and safeguards.
"A lot of people thought this would be vacationers coming down there, running their Jet Skis and tearing things up," said Col. Dionysios Anninos, commander of the Norfolk district of the corps. "That's not what we'd allow and not what we've permitted."
If Wilkins and the corps "live up to all the mitigations we've described, we can live with this," said Jared Brandwein, manager of the Back Bay wildlife refuge.
Brandwein and others said several key issues remain unresolved, such as enforcing the no-wake zone and restrictions on engines (75 horsepower for most boats, and 90 horsepower for flat, pontoon boats).
Anninos said he intends to call a meeting with city, state and federal officials in hopes of nailing down commitments to seal the deal.
"It's been a tough issue, given the sensitive nature of Back Bay and the proximity to the refuge," he said in an interview Wednesday. "But we think we've finally found a pretty good compromise."
Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com
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There is enough navigable
There is enough navigable water in Tidewater to take your jet ski and pleasure boats. Leave Back Bay alone. This is a problem that is fundamentally engrained into with the way some people perceive natural resources. It needs to stop and our children need a better example to learn from. We belong to this ecosystem - it doesn't belong to us.
www.savevbwetlands.org
MONOPOLY
So that is why it is written to have NO NEW JET SKIS!So Jim Reeves can have a monopoly at the marina .With his not so ECo friedly jet skis.I knew GREED had something to do with it.
Tell us Jim
Jim has a good ear for the political side of this. I am sure he is reading these.
Tell us about the PWC's. How exactly did you get exclusive rights? What is the horse power of the PWC's? What about the environment?
No attack is intended but perhaps you can answer these things directly?
It's not over. .
I really believe intelligence, and the knowledge of good custodianship of the land will put an end to this stupid, profit driven concept of building a 76 slip. They only watercraft that really belong in Back Bay are kayaks and paddle boats. Anything running on a motor belongs elsewhere.
Guess who?
If you read the letter from the Corps of Engineers, none other than Jim Reeves, former Virginia Beach councilman, runs the current "Eco" tourism company that rents jet skis at the facility. The letter says that only Mr. Reeves company will be allowed to operate jet skis from the marina. From my read, it does not restrict how many he may operate, just that his company is the only one allowed to.
As far as jet skiers and the no wake zones, it's been my experience that they don't know the "rules of the road" for watercraft. Especially one's that rent the jetski for the day. It's a little different if you own one and operate it frequently, but these will be rented by people with little experience, and no ties to the area.
This is a dumb idea, and somebody ought to put a stop to it.
The paper should print it
"Read the report and you'll see that the topics posted here were addressed."
Tell it to the paper.
Don't you now have to pass DEQ, VMRC, and the VB comm?
Hear that folks? There is still a way to stop this.
Thin Entering Wedge
So the story begins. The allowance for the marina is another step along the path to further degredation of the Back Bay system. Other restriction to include are: no hull coatings formulated with toxic biocides to prevent fouling as other in-water coatings exist to avoid this problem. No two-cycle engines that spew mixtures of petroleum and oils into the water with motor exhaust, only four-cycle motors will do. The developer should be required to sample marina sediments at least once per year to document the quality of sediments over the long term to ensure operations are not impacting the underlying system. Require state-of-the-art fueling and waste handling facilities. No vessel maintenance facilities ashore and no in-water maintenance activities should be allowed. In some ways, the VA Clean Marina Program is a farce and a deliberated dodge to allow marina operators to skirt other more protective permits and operational controls. Continual oversight must occur to prevent future expansions and continued demise of the Back Bay.
Oh yee of litle foresight
They get the marina approved, then later make a case for access to the ocean, then presto the marina can make money. You have to look ahead and have patience.
Not a marina
The facility is not a marina -- no maintenance, no fueling -- and is designed for pontoon boats. Also, the slips are tied to the commercial facility already on site. There won't be transient boats at the facility. No jet skis, HP restrictions on the boats, and an expanded restricted area to protect the bay. Read the report and you'll see that the topics posted here were addressed.
Map
The map was not posted with the original article. I guess the pilot noticed the numerous posts and added the map.
Where's it going?
For all of those asking where it's going? There is a map included in the article. It's just North of Little Island Park.
Sandbridge Residents
In order to appease mm46683 and the Sandbridge residents and to keep the New Jersey "trash" out of Sandbridge. From now on Sandbridge is for residents only, no more rentals allowed. How does that sound?
Ed
"If it is in Sandbridge, then they are way"
Back Bay is in fact in Sandbridge. I can pull right up to this location from my house in KI. As for the water depth some have spoken of, it is a nightmare that apparently is going to happen. To dispel another fasle statement, if you cross out of Back Bay you can go anywhere in the world. You will however have to passthrough a treacherous area called Knotts Island Bay. Even in the summer you got need some oomph to get her up on plane while driving a skiff to navigate it's shallow depths. The idea of a stern drive or inboard being captained by an unknowledgeable captain is funny until I think of the mess it might create. Heck, Back Bay has plenty of shallow water and obstructions of it's own. This will be a mess.
Why
would residents of Sandbridge move their boats there when they can keep them at their own docks for free?
The patrons of this mess are gonna be the folks coming down from New Jersey for the week, polluting the bay with noise and garbage and heading back home.
I can assure you the residents of Sandbridge do not want this marina.
google is your friend
The decision paper, dated 10 Oct 08, looks to be an interesting read.
http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/technical%20services/Regulatory%20branch/PN/Wilkins_Facility_SOF/Wilkins%20Facility.pdf
This is a free market people
If people truly don't want that business there, it will open and then promptly close its doors due to lack of customers.
The truth is that residents of Sandbridge will move their boats there in droves and the locals from the resort area will love the convenience to the OBX and they'll move their boats from Broad Bay down to Back Bay due to the much lower cost and less crowded waters.
If all of you naysayers really want that business to fail, you simply won't patronize it.
Did anybody consider???
the depth of Back Bay? It's not very deep, it has NO outlet to the sea and all it does is head for Lotus Pond....no beer joints or beaches to lay up on...sounds like some of the 'old money' is forcing an issue. Majority of back bay is less than 3 foot.???
Will look real good from the balconies of those high end ecology condos that aren't selling!
Why is it..
That whenever someone writes a column like this, they do not give the location? If it is in Sandbridge, then they are way off, because that is North Bay. Back Bay is well south of there and this could be anywhere from Nanney's Creek Rd. all the way to Knotts Island.
money talks
Can anyone say OLD MONEY?
Can anyone say OLD MONEY=OLD BOY NETWORK?
When has either listened to the people?
Maybe, just maybe,
the city will use it's head and NOT grant the business license.
Back Bay marina
I wonder if it's going to be on the Intracoastal by where Capt George's used to be, by Pungo Ferry Bridge. I enjoy taking my wife and kids to the beach there. Now, buying hotdogs and ice cream there is a thing of the past. The last time I was there the little store was closed down and there was a For Sale sign across the water. It won't be long before there's no place left to park a boat without having to pay an arm and a leg, and seeing marinas and condos all over the place.
Cartman
Your going to need a map. Actually a chart. Your a bit off there m'boy.
MARINA
I think it was going to be across from the sanctuary area.Behind The Baja restaurant maybe?The pilot had an article on it awhile ago.
Where?
Where is this marina going to be? Sandbridge area? Near Back Bay? In Virginia Beach? Let me guess east of where you are now?
It is painfully obvious. . .
. . that some people are out to ruin every last beautiful and reflective environments in the Tidewater area. Why destroy Back Bay? It's had a hard enough time coming back.
Thanks, Doug
you're a fine steward of Sandbridge.
90% of the residents didn't want the Sanctuary and they don't want the marina either.
I suppose you don't really care, however.
Jet skis?
What does "new" jet skis mean? If the issue is pollution then the "new" jet skis are all 4 strokes motors. It would be the old ones that are a problem. ironically, many of the boats will have 2 stroke motors. In the end it doesn't matter. it is only going to take one sunken boat to cause more environmental damage than has occured back there in years. That is not a friendly water way for boaters.
Proposed Marina in Back Bay
Oh you've got to be kidding? Low impact, yeah right!
Where?
Anyone know where? Perhaps the old Capt George's off of old Pungo Ferry? Should be a nice addition instead of condo's!