THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410130196
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
The city is backing off plans to build a municipal boat ramp at Pleasure House Creek because environmental concerns appear to doom any chance of getting the necessary permits.
The area contains some of the last undisturbed wetlands and wildlife habitats in the Lynnhaven River system. It's also one of the primary nursery areas for the Chesapeake Bay.
Instead, the city will explore alternate sites, specifically at nearby Crab Creek and at Little Creek basin, for a much needed public boat ramp.
For two years, the city has explored constructing a boat ramp at Pleasure House Creek in the Ocean Park area near the Lesner Bridge. It would have been the only city boat ramp with direct access to the Lynnhaven River system. The city owns boat ramps at Owls Creek near Rudee Inlet and at Munden Point along the North Landing River.
The Pleasure House Creek location was attractive to the city because it would have been relatively inexpensive to develop.
A private developer, F. Wayne McLeskey Jr. who owns adjacent property, was poised to donate $1 million worth of land to the city for the ramp and pay $560,000 to dredge the channel. The city's responsibility was to build the $870,000 boat launching facility, obtain the dredging permits and maintain the channel at a cost of $60,000 a year.
``We gave it our best shot,'' said Phillip Roehrs, a city coastal engineer. ``But the chances of getting a permit are slim. We need to take a look at available alternatives.''
Roehrs said the city was compelled to explore the site because of the economics of the land offer and the tremendous need in the city for more public access to the city's waterways and specifically the Lynnhaven system. Only two boat ramps, both privately owned, have access to the Lynnhaven basin.
There are 11,500 boats registered in Virginia Beach and another 10,000 in Norfolk and Chesapeake.
``Go down to Owls Creek one Saturday or Sunday and you'll see how great the need is,'' Roehrs said.
The conservation community, while supportive of constructing more boat ramps, was outraged at the choice of sites.
``You don't pick one of the healthiest wetlands we have in the system,'' said Mary Heinricht, an environmental advocate and environment chairwoman of the Council of Civic Organizations. ``We're real pleased we're going to preserve one of the few remaining nursery areas. This is the place where everything grows.
``We support more access to the resources because people respect them more when they see what's out there,'' Heinricht added.
The alternatives to the Pleasure House Creek location are less environmentally damaging but more costly because the city would have to purchase the land and possibly dredge a channel. The leading alternatives are Little Creek and Crab Creek.
The Little Creek basin site, owned by the Jonathan Corp., is in an industrial area that's already been developed for boat traffic and has a federally maintained channel. The negatives to this site involve acquisition and access.
Crab Creek, next to the Lynnhaven Inlet sand stockpile, had been permitted for a city boat ramp at one time, but the permit has expired.
Complications at this location include an easement the city has granted to the Army Corps of Engineers to place sand dredged from the inlet. That sand is used to renourish the resort beach every spring. The city would have to find a suitable replacement for the sand stockpile.
``Both alternatives have problems not the least of which is cost,'' Roehrs said.
He said the sites will be further evaluated and the results will be presented to the City Council, which must then decide how it wants to proceed. by CNB