A proposal to designate part of Coquina Park\u2019s lagoon as a non-motorized boating zone is moving forward, as St. Petersburg City Council voted Thursday to send agenda item G-2 to committee for further discussion.<\/p>\n
The measure, brought forward by District 6 Council member Gina Driscoll, would establish the lagoon at Coquina Park as a dedicated space for kayaks and canoes.<\/p>\n
The lagoon, which sits at the center of the park\u2019s U-shaped layout, has increasingly become a hub for non-motorized water activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s so popular for kayaks and canoes, we want to establish it as a safe place,\u201d Driscoll said. \u201cWhen you have motorized vessels it can create a risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal is not new, but rather the result of ongoing conversations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve been talking with the neighborhood and parks department about for a while,\u201d Driscoll said.<\/p>\n
If approved, the change would formalize how the space is already being used, while limiting motorized vessels in the lagoon to reduce potential safety conflicts.<\/p>\n
The focus, according to Driscoll, is on expanding recreational use of existing park amenities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur parks are a great source for recreation, and when we have a waterway right next to the park, we want to extend those activities,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is an opportunity to establish a designated area so people can enjoy their time on the water without danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some concerns have been raised by nearby residents who use the lagoon to temporarily store boats during storms.<\/p>\n
Driscoll said those concerns have been accounted for, noting that restrictions would be lifted during a declared state of emergency.<\/p>\n
As the proposal moves through the committee process, the city has already taken steps to support non-motorized use of the lagoon. Access points into the water have been installed and fitted with a soft material designed to prevent damage to kayaks.<\/p>\n
No date has been set for the committee hearing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposal to designate part of Coquina Park\u2019s lagoon as a non-motorized boating zone is moving forward, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-209895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209895","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=209895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}