100-foot dock constructed in navigation channel
To the editor:
On April 6, to the surprise of the public, the construction of a 100-foot dock at 301 Palermo began replacing the 30-foot dock. When the Town was contacted there was no response, but an internal document stated that a dock must be less than 25 percent of the navigation channel. Unbelievably the Town designated the Mooring Field as a Navigation Channel since it is more than three feet deep!
Should we have 50 boats moored in a navigation channel? Does this encourage boats and jet skis to “navigate” among the moored boats day and night? Is this reasonable and safe? The Town staff said they “may have allowed the permitted dock to be 140 feet in length.” But another comment by the Town staff is really disconcerting: “The overall length was limited to 100 feet since the MARKED navigation channel is 40 feet FROM the end of the dock.” This is a huge mistake.
The dock actually protrudes about 50 feet into the marked navigation channel. It is unfortunate that the number 2 red marker was knocked down by a boat a few years ago. However, charts and satellite views show the marker. Town staff also said that “this permit was also reviewed at a Town Council meeting before issuance.” No one from the Town Council has confirmed this. The construction company drawings, upon which all the permitting was based, said “channel is unmarked” and they assumed it to be about 100 feet further out than the real navigation channel. Thus the permitting by the Town and DEP was based upon incorrect information, thinking that the dock did not protrude into the navigation channel.
A person at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that, “there is a channel that the dock will extend into.” What a precedent – approving a navigation hazard. So the bottom line is we have a permitting process that is flawed since it was based on false information; we have a Mooring Field that is designated as a Navigation Channel; and we have a dock that is a navigation hazard an accident waiting to happen. The entire Back Bay is in jeopardy of losing the current width of the much used navigation channel. The Town Council needs to act.
Gerry Trantina
Fort Myers Beach