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| Ray McDaniels says rentals of personal watercraft behind the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center are in violation of several city codes and could endanger swimmers and the environment.
(john warren | the virginian-pilot) |
The Virginian-Pilot
LET'S PAINT A PICTURE of the ugly American, one a snickering Frenchman would love.
Start with a beer can in one hand. Add a pot belly and a tank top. A cigarette dangling from his lips. Slap on a pair of "Terminator" shades.
Then, for full effect, put him on a Jet Ski.
Jet Skis - that's how most of us refer to personal watercraft, though it's only one brand - are loud. They encourage reckless, look-at-me behavior. And they're no friend to the environment. For every 4 gallons of fuel they use, they discharge 1 gallon of unburned fuel into the water. Ouch.
"They're noisy. They're smelly," said Ray McDaniels, an avid beachgoer who lives near the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center - and an environmentally minded stormwater engineer. "But people love skimming just above the water, fast, in a small watercraft."
Fun, the No. 2 clean American "F" word behind "freedom." So we can agree Jet Skis aren't going anywhere.
McDaniels' grievance is a much more narrow one: The hotel is violating several city laws in its rental of the watercraft.
Among the violations, McDaniels said:
Hotel officials, who subcontract the rentals, say the boats are refilled on a "fuel diaper," which prevents spillage.
Poppycock, McDaniels told The Warrior.
Second Precinct Police Capt. Tony Zucaro, however, said there is no law that prohibits such refueling.
When a Jet Ski pulls up to a "mechanical" refueling station, however, it must be completely out of the water when it's gassed up. It seems the thinking that drove the regulation must frown upon the potential for spilling gas into the Bay.
Citing the limits of the hotel's waterfront property: "That pretty much dictates you can't land a boat in front of their beach," McDaniels said.
Looking at the same code section, however, Zucaro disagreed.
Other violations cited by McDaniels:
Zucaro agreed those three are violations of city code.
Here's what makes this pressing: On Wednesday, the Virginia Beach Planning Commission will field a request that would rubber-stamp personal watercraft rentals by the hotel. City staff has recommended approval.
Allowing the rentals is a line item in a massive conditional-use permit request that would allow the hotel - on Shore Drive near Great Neck Road - to add two to three stories to its existing structure.
"For the city to grant an exception from the rules means pretty soon every guy down the street is going to want an exception," McDaniels said.
Keeping personal watercraft far away from swimmers, he said, is a rule worth preserving - and publicizing.
Last year, when a Shore Drive Advisory Committee member voiced concerns about the watercraft operation, "we addressed it immediately," said hotel general manager Stacey Patrick. "We take such things very seriously."
In fact, she said, her contractor helped write city codes that pertain to personal watercraft.
After Labor Day, the contractor ceased operations for the season. If there are violations, we'll hope they are corrected before the spring. I'll check back in then.
Watch out!
Midtown Tunnel: The eastbound lane will be closed from 10 p.m. to night to 3 a.m. Wednesday. Traffic will alternate in the westbound lane.
Return volley
Marcel Rousseau was none too pleased with Chesapeake’s decision not to restrict truck traffic on his street, Hungarian Road.
On Thursday, traffic engineer Earl Sorey said the road has too few cars, not many accidents and a roadway wide enough to accommodate trucks.
“We have a fairly robust volume,” Rousseau wrote. “The city needs to set up traffic sensors out here and get a current count of traffic and speeds.”
As far as accidents, he said, minor ones – of the mailbox-busting variety – aren’t reported.
“The first answer,” Rousseau said, quoting an old Navy captain, “is always wrong.”
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For the same reason...
You can be an inexperienced, ignorant tourist and rent rollerblades to zip up and down the boardwalk but you are not allowed to ride a skateboard on the boardwalk... The city makes money off the rentals... They will never restrict anything that makes them money.
Get real
If you want to see what the law is on the jet ski, just ride one right up to the beach near a police officer. See if you get the same consideration. The fix is in here people. Maybe a reporter who digs can take this one over.
Hmm...
Ted, I am very sure and confident that the Pilot Warrior did his research and checked all of his sources before going to press with this story. I fully believe Pilot Warrior is correct with all of his facts and does not have the space to list all of the city codes in full detail in the space provided. I fully agree with what he says and I wonder if you took the time to look through all the codes, section by section.
Another misleading story from the Pilot
Ok,,,why write this story without researching the city codes and telling everyone what they actually say instead of just what Mr. McDaniels says they say. It's easy, just go to www.municode.com and look up the Virginia Beach code and do a small amount of research. You say Capt Zucaro disagrees but you don't tell everyone what the explanation is. You make it sound like the Capt is just disagreeing without any legal reason.
While the rental operation may be causing problems with the residents and they have concerns about what is going on, I would think the Pilot would make at least a little effort to provide the correct information....