Fish Island pier is threat to wetlands

Letter: Fish Island pier is threat to wetlandsRusty SpringfieldSt. AugustinePublication Date: 06/09/07
Editor: On Monday, the St. Augustine City Commission will vote on whether to approve the application of Fred Halback, et al, to build an enormous 100-slip dock in the middle of the Intracoastal Waterway, adjacent to the Mickler-O'Connell Bridge on State Road 312.
The pier is to be for the private use of the wealthy residents who will buy the luxury homes that are yet to be built along the tract of land southeast of the bridge.
The St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board recently rejected this application, 6-0, and with good reason. The only people who support this project are those who stand to make an enormous profit from it.
The citizens of this city do not want it and do not support its construction. It would completely destroy the aesthetic nature of the area, not to mention the flora and fauna in and around its perimeters. Once you destroy the few remaining naturally beautiful wetlands of our city, they're gone forever.
Do we really want St. Augustine to look like Daytona Beach? Set this precedent, and that's exactly what we'll have.
Tourists and residents are drawn to St. Augustine for the heritage that we have preserved and deemed historically significant. Are our last remaining highly visible wetlands no less important? Mitigating it by claiming to preserve another wetlands area somewhere else won't undo the damage that this development will cause.
Rusty Springfield
St. AugustineClick here to return to story:http://staugustine.com/stories/060907/opinions_46438A1.shtml © The St. Augustine Record