Bobcat
Founding Member
City green-lights New Town marina
BY GWEN FILOSA Citizen Staff
gfilosa@keysnews.com
It took more than a year, but Dr. Richard Walker has cleared all local government hurdles required to begin developing a 79-dock marina on his waterfront property.
Walker will transform his 4.6 acres that include bay bottom and mangroves off 2407 N. Roosevelt Blvd. into a noncommercial marina. He'll do so while adhering to 23 conditions that came out of negotiations with neighbors who, at first, cringed at the thought of sharing a border with a marina.
The project is more accurately described as "small dockage," said private planner Owen Trepanier.
"I say dockage and not marina," Trepanier told city leaders at Old City Hall a couple of weeks ago. "No bait, no fuel, no beer, no ice. These are private boats. No charters. These boats are going to come out of people's backyards, driveways and alleys."
Some locals applaud the idea of added boat dockage in Key West proper.
"Marinas are closing down," said City Commissioner Tony Yaniz. "In a seafaring community, where the citizens are not allowed to park their boats in front of the street, thank you Dr. Walker for providing some relief."
The New Town spot has been many things over the past 75 years. In 1949, it was deeded to the city, which turned it into the local swimming hole.
Later, it was a bustling commercial site, complete with two restaurants.
"By '95, the property lay fallow and it was eventually sold to Dr. Walker," Trepanier said.
City commissioners gave final approval to the major development Oct. 21 with a 6-0 vote. Commissioner Clayton Lopez was absent.
Walker's property, which in the 1990s was the Flipper Sea School, once had a number of piers used by businesses, including 286 restaurant seats and more than 1,000 square feet of retail and office space. But those piers were washed away after Hurricane Wilma struck in 2005.
What remains is a one-story building on pilings that houses professional offices owned by another party.
The docks will take two years to build, planners said.
As part of the city agreement, the marina must earn and maintain a Florida Department of Environmental Protection "Clean Marina Designation."
The 23 conditions attached to the city's approval include: no charter boats, no boat ramp or boat launching, no on-site fish cleaning, no storage of boat trailers anywhere, no vessels longer than 30 feet at the marina, no more than one liveaboard on site at one time.
Walker has previously tangled with the city over the property. He recently agreed to pay $34,550 in code enforcement fines to settle a three-year-old dispute over the waterfront property he bought from the city in 1995.
The city initially wanted Walker to pay $103,650 in code fines that had stacked up since 2011, when Walker built structures on existing docks without proper permits.
Walker denied any wrongdoing.
gfilosa@keysnews.com
BY GWEN FILOSA Citizen Staff
gfilosa@keysnews.com
It took more than a year, but Dr. Richard Walker has cleared all local government hurdles required to begin developing a 79-dock marina on his waterfront property.
Walker will transform his 4.6 acres that include bay bottom and mangroves off 2407 N. Roosevelt Blvd. into a noncommercial marina. He'll do so while adhering to 23 conditions that came out of negotiations with neighbors who, at first, cringed at the thought of sharing a border with a marina.
The project is more accurately described as "small dockage," said private planner Owen Trepanier.
"I say dockage and not marina," Trepanier told city leaders at Old City Hall a couple of weeks ago. "No bait, no fuel, no beer, no ice. These are private boats. No charters. These boats are going to come out of people's backyards, driveways and alleys."
Some locals applaud the idea of added boat dockage in Key West proper.
"Marinas are closing down," said City Commissioner Tony Yaniz. "In a seafaring community, where the citizens are not allowed to park their boats in front of the street, thank you Dr. Walker for providing some relief."
The New Town spot has been many things over the past 75 years. In 1949, it was deeded to the city, which turned it into the local swimming hole.
Later, it was a bustling commercial site, complete with two restaurants.
"By '95, the property lay fallow and it was eventually sold to Dr. Walker," Trepanier said.
City commissioners gave final approval to the major development Oct. 21 with a 6-0 vote. Commissioner Clayton Lopez was absent.
Walker's property, which in the 1990s was the Flipper Sea School, once had a number of piers used by businesses, including 286 restaurant seats and more than 1,000 square feet of retail and office space. But those piers were washed away after Hurricane Wilma struck in 2005.
What remains is a one-story building on pilings that houses professional offices owned by another party.
The docks will take two years to build, planners said.
As part of the city agreement, the marina must earn and maintain a Florida Department of Environmental Protection "Clean Marina Designation."
The 23 conditions attached to the city's approval include: no charter boats, no boat ramp or boat launching, no on-site fish cleaning, no storage of boat trailers anywhere, no vessels longer than 30 feet at the marina, no more than one liveaboard on site at one time.
Walker has previously tangled with the city over the property. He recently agreed to pay $34,550 in code enforcement fines to settle a three-year-old dispute over the waterfront property he bought from the city in 1995.
The city initially wanted Walker to pay $103,650 in code fines that had stacked up since 2011, when Walker built structures on existing docks without proper permits.
Walker denied any wrongdoing.
gfilosa@keysnews.com
