VERO BEACH — Local citizens hoping to construct a $3 million boathouse on city park property will need to come back with a better plan if they want the blessing from the Vero Beach City Council. The council voted 4-1 Tuesday against a proposal to lease one acre of MacWilliam Park on the east side of the Indian River Lagoon to the Indian River Rowing Club.
Opponents of the project cited concerns over traffic, loss of park land now being used as an off-leash dog park and congestion in that part of the lagoon due to the proximity with the city marina.
The vote came after several hours of public comment, the majority of which was against the boathouse becoming a reality in that spot in Central Beach.
Councilwoman Tracy Carroll, who has been pushing for the project for nearly two years, tried to strike a compromise by making a motion that included the downsizing of the footprint of the building and moving it to the north end of the parcel in question. Those concessions were not enough to garner the votes of two other members on the dais.
Councilman Dick Winger said he couldn’t vote for offering the $1 per year lease to the group because he felt the council would be overstepping its bounds to do so.
“I personally cannot be for giving away the public’s land without the public’s permission,” Winger said. “I’m not against this, but I don’t believe that this city council should give the taxpayers’ land to a group without the public’s permission.”
Councilman Craig Fletcher noted that the piece of property the rowing club was asking to lease is virtually the last stretch of undeveloped riverfront the city owns.
“As my grandfather used to tell me, they ain’t makin’ no more waterfront property,” said Craig Fletcher. “It’s entirely too much encroachment on the green space. As much as I’d like to see a rowing club I just can’t support this at this time.”
Carroll protested that the city staff had looked at all 236 parcels owned by the public and deemed this spot on the river to be the best suited for the boathouse and the training of rowing teams from out of state who would visit Vero and bring tourist dollars to the city.
Turner, at the end, expressed hope that an alternate location could be found that would not incite such protestations from the neighbors and from dog owners who now have use of about seven acres near the ballfields.
“I hope the rowing club will come back forward with alternative plans, perhaps on that northern area,” said Mayor Pilar Turner.
“I’ve been out to this park and there is such potential there for this to be an asset to this community,” she said.
Turner suggested that the rowing club get together with the users of the dog park, the youth sailing association members and the area neighbors and, with the help of city planning staff, come up with an all-over vision that would meet everyone’s needs.
That type of cooperation seems unlikely to happen after approximately 120 people turned out at the council meeting to speak passionately either for or against the boathouse proposal.
Local residents fighting the boathouse collected 600 signatures of people hoping to kill plans to build the facility.
The proposal had been approved by the city’s marine commission, but a site plan had not yet gone before the planning and zoning or architectural review boards.
