Land needs to be set aside for boat ramps

www.Sell-A-Boat.Com

A colleague at The Herald took me to task on my assertion Manatee County has not expanded the boat ramp system in almost a third of a century. He pointed out the ramp at Coquina is twice as large and technically two ramps since there is a north and south Coquina Ramp at least a quarter mile apart.
I'll concede that Coquina Ramp has been enlarged over the years but that was admitted in Sunday's column. And I agree the two ramps being physically separated might constitute a new ramp.

www.BoatHoo.Com

But two more lanes isn't much improvement in a third of a century.
He also pointed out, a ramp has been added at Highland Shores on the north bank of the Manatee River between Ellington and I-75 Bridge. When you consider that ramp only has five parking slips, it is hard to believe it has been much of a boon to the general boating public.
Someone at the county had told him a public boat ramp once existed at Piney Point, but like a lot of other things taken from local outdoorsmen, the powers that be used 9-11 as an excuse to shut out the public.
The truth of that situation was, Piney Point was anything but a formal boat ramp. A better description was a hole in the rocks which allowed launchers to back down to the sand and drop or retrieve small boats.
Parking was parallel along the narrow little road leading from U.S. 41 to the bay. The county might have owned the property, but I don't remember any improvements there.
All that said, it needs to be recognized and said here boat ramps by nature must be placed on some of the most expensive real estate in any given area.
In addition to the actual ramp, a fairly large parcel of land must be purchased for parking trailer rigs.

www.Boating-Classifieds.Com


Add to this the fact channels and boat activity are not the best thing going for the marine environment. Not every coastal location is suitable for public boat ramps.
All of this means if the general boating public is to be served, then it is imperative waterfront tracts be set aside now.
And this may be a tough sell with land prices climbing by multiples each decade, but it is going to have to be done right now.
This community touts fishing and boating in a huge percentage of it's advertising trying to entice more folks to move to Manatee. If we are going to do that, then it is only fair boating be given a fair shake by the local governments. So far the last decade, the biggest impact the various bodies have had on small boating was in constrictions and restrictions.
How about doubling the public launching capacity in the next five or 10 years?

Jerry Hill, outdoors writer, can be reached at 745-7013 or jhill@HeraldToday.com