by Mitch Maley<\/p>\n
The recent announcement<\/a> that a cruise port developer is in the initial planning phase to develop a major port near the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve has generated considerable local opposition. And while such a project would face considerable challenges, given our local ordinances and existing state policies, citizens correctly point out that past acquiescence and increasing state preemption are reasons for the community to express skepticism when told, Don’t worry, it ain’t gonna happen anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n The best assurance at this point would be for our local representatives in Tallahassee to cure this legislatively during the current session. The county’s comprehensive land use plan already prohibits dredging or filling within the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve (with narrow exceptions for stormwater outfalls\/restoration and limited access). Adding an amendment to an existing bill in this year’s session that provides a geographic restriction for new dredging in the Terra Ceia\/lower Tampa Bay area would, as they say, nip this in the bud.\u00a0<\/p>\n SB 1422\/HB 1319<\/a> \u201cSurface Waters\/Coral Reefs\u201d (dredge & fill permit standards) already contains language addressing dredging and filling permits. A geographic prohibition for \u201cno new navigation-channel dredging\/turning basins for cruise vessels within\/adjacent to the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve\u201d could easily be added via amendment.\u00a0<\/p>\n SB 302\/HB 1035<\/a> \u201cNature-based Coastal Resiliency\u201d (aquatic preserve statute changes) is another possible vehicle for such an amendment, as it is already focused on modifying aquatic preserve law, including dredging-related provisions related to Biscane Bay. And while SB 1422 would probably be the better fit, this one is moving through the process much more swiftly. An amendment providing for \u201cno new dredging for commercial navigation expansion in or near Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve\u201d or even \u201cTampa Bay estuarine protection zones,\u201d could be added to these bills as well.<\/p>\n At the same time, our representatives should be fighting tooth and nail against HB 479\/SB 718<\/a> \u201cWater Management,” which would preempt local regulation of water quality\/quantity, pollution control, and wetlands. At the very least, an amendment carving out exceptions for maintaining local authority within or near aquatic preserves or designated estuarine protection areas would at least mitigate the negative impacts if this bad legislation were to pass.<\/p>\n The mega-cruise port concept is being driven by new, enormous cruise ships that cannot clear existing infrastructure, like the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. That is a problem for the cruise ship industry to figure out, and not by way of communities suffering the ecological impacts of deep-water dredging in critically sensitive estuarine waters, or by replacing\/modifying perfectly good existing infrastructure for their benefit at enormous taxpayer expense. Let the ships that can fit come to Tampa. Route the ones that don\u2019t elsewhere. We\u2019ll survive.<\/p>\n Coastal wetlands, seagrass, and mangroves are critical environmental resources that our state has allowed to be severely abused over many decades, to the perpetual detriment of our communities. We have seen over time that the supposed \u201coverriding public benefit\u201d has never lived up to the real-world long-term costs. The fact that some ridiculously overbuilt cruise ships cannot fit under the Skyway is not a problem that Manatee County should sacrifice one bit of our natural resources to solve. Whatever promised economic benefits it might bring are certain to pale in comparison to the environmental costs, not to mention the impacts on traffic and hurricane evacuation routes.<\/p>\n If you really want to stop this very bad idea before it gets off the ground, petition your state legislators to enact these kinds of specific protections. They are all Republicans, and Republicans control both chambers, so it wouldn\u2019t be hard for them to accomplish. Tell them to fight for our wetlands, aquatic preserves, and estuaries. And if they don\u2019t get it done, vote accordingly come August.<\/p>\n Senator Jim Boyd: boyd.jim.web@flsenate.gov<\/a> Dennis “Mitch” Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly\u00a0podcast<\/a>. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for his bio. Mitch’s 2015 novel, A Long Road Home, was recently released in its\u00a0third edition<\/a>. His other books can be found\u00a0here.<\/a>\u00a0He can be reached at editor@thebradentontimes.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Mitch Maley The recent announcement that a cruise port developer is in the initial planning phase to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49418,548,49419,8052,49420,8600,232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-156264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-advertise","9":"tag-advertising","10":"tag-banner-ad","11":"tag-bradenton","12":"tag-bradenton-advertising","13":"tag-purchase","14":"tag-tallahassee","15":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","16":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Rep. Will Robinson: Will.Robinson@flhouse.gov<\/a>
Rep. Bill Conerly: Bill.Conerly@flhouse.gov<\/a><\/p>\n