Report for proposed PSL boat ramp due out soon

By CHRIS YOUNG
Despite strong neighborhood opposition to a proposed boat ramp facility off Southbend Boulevard, parks officials expect to give the City Council a detailed analysis of the site soon.
About 90 residents gave their comments at a public meeting last week, "a clear majority" in favor of the site, Parks & Recreation Director Chuck Proulx said in an e-mail to his staff.

City officials see the site, tentatively named Canal Park, as the best place to expand the city's boat launching facilities. Only one city site has ocean access, at Veteran's Memorial Park at Rivergate.

"The city is growing in leaps and bounds, and we haven't added other facilities," said Chuck Proulx, Parks & Recreation director. "You don't have to be a mental giant to know we need more boat ramps in this town."

He said another site, off Southbend Boulevard and Bay St. Lucie Drive, faces tougher permitting requirements and construction costs.

Boaters said the C-24 site is sorely needed, even though the trip from the site to open water is about 45 minutes.

However, nearby residents took a not-in-my-backyard stance.

"Don't put ramps in a residential neighborhood," said Peter Church, who lives across the canal from the site.

He and a number of other homeowners built their own boat lifts on the canal and said he was concerned about drunk boaters crashing into his dock or other boats or damaging the canal itself.

The city's other ramp at Rivergate is "nothing but chaos and mayhem," Church said.
J.J. White, a boater, said he understood why the neighbors wouldn't want the ramp near their property, but said it's necessary.

"By 10 a.m. Sunday, if I go to Rivergate, I can't get in the water. I park at the Post Office (across the street) if I'm lucky," White said.

The proposed 9-acre site would have two ramps accommodating four boats at one time, and between 60 and 90 trailer spots, plus car spaces.

The park could cost up to $2 million, but there is no funding yet, Proulx said.