Bay Harbor Islands

The Shrinking Canal

The waterway is the same, but the docks are getting bigger

By Angie Hargot

The Bay Harbor Waterway runs between the town’s East and West islands.

The Bay Harbor Islands Town Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday amending town regulations governing the size of boat docks and mooring piles in the Bay Harbor Waterway.

Town officials said they needed to change the code to conform to state and county environmental regulations for new dock construction. However, critics fear the new code allows property owners to construct mega-docks for huge vessels in the town’s small canal, which could be hazardous to boats navigating the waterway.

According to a report from Town Manager Ron Wasson, the council passed the new code after homeowners asked to replace docks damaged by recent hurricanes.

The county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) requires that docks have at least four feet of clearance on the sea bottom at low tide so boats won’t disturb sea grass. To comply with that regulation, many homeowners must build their docks farther out into the water.

But, since previous Bay Harbor regulations prohibited docks from extending more than eight feet from a property’s sea wall, they first had to obtain variances from the Town Council.

The new ordinance allows property owners to rebuild docks extending up to 15 feet into the waterway, with pilings no more than 30 feet out. Longer docks reduce the navigable portion of the waterway to only 90 feet across — a number some residents say is too narrow.

“We are crafting an ordinance that serves the needs of particular property owners, instead of an ordinance we are going to have to live with for perpetuity,” resident Frances Neuhut said.

Another resident, Aurora Contreras, feared the new code will change the character of the town and its waterway. “Why do we have to be the leaders [of change] to please a couple of property owners?” she asked.

Mayor Peter Lynch insisted that DERM regulations make it impossible for property owners to build new docks within the town’s code.

Wasson’s report references the property at 9601 E. Broadview Drive, where the owners applied for a variance to build a 16-foot dock to achieve the DERM-required four-foot depth.

“What happened was a guy built a McMansion [on one of the corner properties],” said John Corral, who owns three properties along the canal. “Everybody’s dock was eight feet, and the council granted him 17 feet. He brought in his fancy attorney to muddy the issue. So now he can park a huge boat there.”

Still, Lynch, who owns a charter boat company called Corsair Sportfishing, Inc., said 90 feet was still plenty of room for vessels to navigate. “I’ll put you on my 45-foot Hatteras and I’ll spin it right around,” he said.

Comments? E-mail angie@miamisunpost.com.

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