{"id":387051,"date":"2026-09-01T10:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/387051\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T10:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T10:30:22","slug":"critics-object-to-mooring-field-in-miami-marine-stadium-basin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/387051\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics object to mooring field in Miami Marine Stadium basin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The city of Miami is planning to build out a 195-anchor mooring field in the basin on Virginia Key.<\/p>\n

PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n

adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

On a recent weekday morning, the waters behind Miami\u2019s historic Marine Stadium were calm and clear \u2014 with few boats to be seen.<\/p>\n

If the city of Miami gets its way, the 45-acre basin could one day be filled with 195 concrete anchors, which would function as parking spaces for up to 75 boats, instead. The city is currently seeking permits for a proposed mooring field, five years after the City Commission directed the city manager to finalize plans for the project.<\/p>\n

The mooring field, which the city estimates will cost approximately $450,000 for design and permitting and $2 million for construction, is one of several projects that could bring a flurry of activity to Virginia Key in the coming years. Miami voters recently approved<\/a> an operator to manage events at Miami Marine Stadium and invest up to $10 million into its restoration. In November, voters will decide<\/a> whether to award a long-term lease to a company that would redevelop the 27-acre property on the west side of the island that includes both the Rickenbacker Marina and Marine Stadium Marina. And the county is set to consider a $100 million redevelopment<\/a> of the former Seaquarium site.<\/p>\n

Anxiety over those developments \u2014 plus the mooring field on top of it \u2014 has some residents and regular visitors nervous about how they will work together. They worry no one at the city or county is thinking about the collective impact to the relatively small barrier island of Virginia Key.<\/p>\n

While the mooring field would be good news for pleasure boaters or liveaboards trying to navigate the shortage of slips and moorings<\/a> in the county, it\u2019s upsetting some of the other boaters who use the basin: the human-powered paddlers.<\/p>\n

At dawn and dusk, crew rowers and dragon boaters slice through the calm, safe waters of the Marine Stadium basin, like they have for decades. Some of them worry that, among other concerns, packing the basin with bigger boats will leave no room for them.<\/p>\n

\"The The view of the Rickenbacker Marina and the Miami skyline from Gramps Getaway, a waterfront bar & restaurant at the marina. A November ballot referendum will ask voters to green-light a new operator for the the marina. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

That includes Leah Kinnaird, who\u2019s part of a team of breast cancer survivors called Save Our Sisters that meets out in the water in a long, narrow vessel known as a dragon boat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would basically put us out of business,\u201d Kinnaird told the Virginia Key Advisory Board, a city-assembled group that meets to discuss items relevant to Virginia Key, during a meeting last week.<\/p>\n

Kinnaird and other paddlers are pushing the city to pause the project until more community members have had time to weigh in. On Monday, Friends of Biscayne Bay began circulating a petition<\/a> outlining the nonprofit environmental group\u2019s concerns about the city damaging seagrass in the basin, pushing out the rowers and piling too much development all at once on the key.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Virginia Key Advisory Board heard from residents who were concerned about the mooring project in particular \u2014 the first time it\u2019s been mentioned in years, said Peter Ehrlich, chair of the board. He told the Miami Herald he didn\u2019t even realize it was this far along until Kinnaird brought it to the board\u2019s attention a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is now August of 2026 and no City officials have shared info or briefings,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n

Critics like Kinnaird are also concerned that this is just one more project jammed into Virginia Key, without any consideration of how all of the developments overlap.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these things intersect with each other, and they\u2019re being developed in isolation. Where are all these people going to park? What\u2019s going to happen to traffic on the Rickenbacker?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"City City of Miami permit application images reveal what 195 anchors might look like in the Miami Marine Stadium basin. City of Miami <\/p>\n

In a statement to the Herald, the city said the current plans do include room for rowers. A spokesperson said that the \u201couter-perimeter mooring field design is intended to preserve space for rowing lanes on both the north and south sides of the basin.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the increased activity between various redevelopment proposals on the island, the spokesperson said the city is \u201cevaluating the overall activity and access needs for Virginia Key,\u201d including the mooring field, the Marine Stadium redevelopment and the potential Rickenbacker Marina redevelopment.<\/p>\n

The city also said \u201cplans and drawings are being developed\u201d in coordination with the Miami Police Department and Miami Parking Authority to address increased vehicle activity, parking and traffic flow.<\/p>\n

From 75 to 195<\/p>\n

The mooring field was initially supposed to be a solution embraced by at least some of the paddlers.<\/p>\n

Ten or so years ago, the basin was full of illegally anchored boats, roaring jet skis and abandoned vessels, some of which leaked oil and sewage into the water. Paddlers say they were harassed by drunk boaters and followed by speeding jet skiers. Some young rowers spent their weekends roaming the mangroves with black garbage bags, picking up all the trash boaters flung into the sea.<\/p>\n

Paddlers asked the city for help, and Miami proposed a modest mooring field to help reign in the improperly anchored boats, along with a dedicated lane for paddlers and some \u201cno wake\u201d and \u201cslow speed\u201d signs.<\/p>\n

\"Rower Rower Sue Kern slows down as a speeding watercraft passes in the Miami Marine Stadium basin on Virginia Key in 2020. Paddlers and rowers asked the city to help solve the bad boater problem with a mooring field in 2021. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

In 2021, the Miami City Commission directed the city manager \u201cto take any and all necessary steps\u201d to finalize plans for a mooring field in the basin with space for 75 vessels. Even that was a bump from what paddlers had initially proposed as a compromise \u2014 just 50 mooring balls.<\/p>\n

Then, the paddlers and Virginia Key Advisory Board say, things went quiet. They said they aren\u2019t aware of the city holding any community meetings or reaching out to either group since then, despite the fact that the city is currently pursuing state environmental permits for the project. Reached by the Herald, the city spokesperson said they were working to confirm the history of public meetings for the project.<\/p>\n

According to the city\u2019s permit application, Miami is planning on adding 195 anchors, which would blanket the entire basin, along with a floating dock for dinghies and a harbormaster office and space to pump out boat sewage. The project has yet to be approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection.<\/p>\n

In a mooring field, anchors are placed on the bay\u2019s floor, and ropes are attached from those anchors to floating mooring balls on the water\u2019s surface; that\u2019s what boats attach to. So 195 anchors does not automatically translate to 195 mooring balls, or 195 boats.<\/p>\n

The city says the intention is to host a maximum of 75 boats at a time.<\/p>\n

\"City The city of Miami is seeking permits for a 195-anchor mooring field in the basin off Virginia Key. It would create space for 75 boats to anchor. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

\u201cThe additional anchors are intended to provide flexibility in the placement and relocation of the 75 active moorings, including during maintenance, events held by various clubs and organizations utilizing the Miami Rowing Club, and future events that may occur in connection with a renovated Miami Marine Stadium,\u201d the city said in a statement.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s consistent with what the city told the Miami Rowing Club, which has leased space next to the Marine Stadium for decades.<\/p>\n

At the Virginia Key Advisory Board meeting last week, Miami Rowing Club board President Facundo Barrera said the city assured them that the 195 anchors did not translate to 195 boats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city has promised us there won\u2019t be 195 yachts, nor 195 mooring balls,\u201d he said. \u201cAnchors don\u2019t interfere with our rowing. What interferes with our rowing is the number of mooring balls and yachts.\u201d<\/p>\n

An empty basin<\/p>\n

However, some paddlers say any number of boats is too many. And now they have a taste of what life is like with zero boats in the basin.<\/p>\n

In the last few months, authorities have stepped up their enforcement of illegally anchored boats or speeding jet skis. Now, paddlers say, the basin is clear. Sometimes they spot manatees and dolphins, or rays or sharks.<\/p>\n

\"City On a recent weekday, the Miami Marine Stadium basin was bare of boats. Some paddlers and environmentalists want to keep it that way. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Bringing back the boats via a mooring field is \u201ca solution in search of a problem that no longer exists,\u201d said Roger Bernstein, a lawyer and a rower in the basin for the last 30 years.<\/p>\n

Bernstein said he doesn\u2019t trust the city to limit the field to just 75 boats. Especially future administrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a mooring field is necessary, or is inevitable, it has to be smaller, and it has to be designed differently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Friends of Biscayne Bay also questions why state environmental agencies would allow 195 chunks of concrete to be placed on sensitive bay bottom, where patches of ecologically important seagrass grow. They believe the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which is currently reviewing the city\u2019s permit, needs to do a new survey of all that seagrass down there, rather than relying on one that was done in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"This This image shows what the 195 anchors might look like in the basin, compared with the results of a 2023 survey of local seagrass. City of Miami <\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to do a new site assessment because there\u2019s no way all of these mooring balls are avoiding all the seagrass growing there,\u201d said Laura Reynolds, head of Friends of Biscayne Bay. \u201cThey should be avoiding the places that are thick with seagrass; they\u2019re not doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates wonder why, if authorities can keep the basin clear of boats for now, they can\u2019t keep doing it.<\/p>\n

One big reason? Boaters need that space too, said Spencer Crowley, chair of the Florida Inland Navigation District. The taxpayer-funded waterway development agency is paying for part of the mooring field, and it supports creating new, regulated spaces for safe boating \u2014 for row boats and motorboats alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe managed mooring field does that,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s some people who want no activity in the basin, and that just isn’t realistic or tenable or justified in my opinion and the opinion of my board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowley said boaters stopping by on their way from the north pause in Miami to provision for longer trips to the Keys or the Bahamas, which can be a boon to the local economy. Creating a dedicated space for responsible boaters, along with a staff assigned to make sure they follow the rules, would be a win-win for the area, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as we favor boating and anchorage, we also favor outdoor recreation, especially for kids, and we want to make sure people can do it in a safe way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Harris is the lead climate change reporter for the Miami Herald\u2019s climate team, which covers how South Florida communities are adapting to the warming world. Her beat also includes environmental issues and hurricanes. She attended the University of Florida.\n <\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Tess Riski covers Miami City Hall. She joined the Miami Herald in 2022 and has covered local politics throughout Miami-Dade County. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School\u2019s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city of Miami is planning to build out a 195-anchor mooring field in the basin on Virginia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-387051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387051","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=387051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}