Public concern over a bill designating Lindbergh Bay an area of particular concern forced sponsor Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg to tone down the language, but even with the changes, he said the goal is still the same: protecting the area’s fish and wildlife.
Making its debut Wednesday in the Senate’s Planning and Environmental Protection Committee, the original bill says the Legislature would be signing off on the designation, and gives the Coastal Zone Management Commission up to 180 days to come up with a management plan for the area.
But letters submitted to the Senate by local activists argued that the bill’s mandate might usurp the commission’s authority over such matters, so Donastorg brought an amendment that instead "urges" CZM to find a way to protect the area — either by designating it an area of particular concern (APC) or a marine sanctuary.
Acting CZM Assistant Director Jean-Pierre Oriol explained Wednesday that an APC designation does not necessarily protect the bay from further development, while rules and regulations for marine sanctuaries are specifically designed to protect an area’s natural resources. Either way, the public still has a say in what restrictions will eventually govern the area, he added.
Donastorg said after the meeting that while the amendment basically cut the bill’s teeth, senators still showed Wednesday that they were in favor of the concept.
"Even if the CZM commission chooses not to make the designation, it’s still on record that the committee’s intent was to protect the area," he said.
Lindbergh Bay was recently thrown into the spotlight after community members publicly opposed government plans to fill the bay’s dredge hole will spoils from work proposed for around the Havensight Dock — an expansion that would have allowed the Oasis of the Seas to berth there. Those plans were subsequently taken off the table, and the Oasis moved temporarily to Crown Bay until an alternate site is selected.
Voting for the amended bill was Donastorg, along with Sens. Carlton "Ital" Dowe, Shawn-Michael Malone, Sammuel Sanes and Patrick Simeon-Sprauve.
Sen. Michael Thurland cast the dissenting vote, while Sen. Alvin L. Williams was absent.
Senators also voted to hold in committee permits for:
-Island Tri-Corp, which would allow the company to continue to use and occupy two existing floating docks and access ramps (it was argued during the meeting that a portion of the permit could be seen as "unconstitutional" since it appeared to give certain government agencies free services in exchange for the granting of the permit); and
-Sugar Bay Club and Resort Inc. that would allow for the construction of a pier in Estate Smith Bay (senators voted to hold the permit until the Board of Land Use Appeals settles a challenge brought by the Point Pleasant Villas Association).
Present during Wednesday’s meeting were Donastorg, Dowe, Malone, Sanes, Sprauve, and Thurland.
