INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A large crowd erupted in applause after Commissioners voted 3-2 to table the Oslo Boat Ramp project for three to five years.
Commissioner Solari made the motion to table the project, and said he believed that motion would effectively table the project forever.
“I am hoping by the time we address this issue in three to five years, we will know a lot more about the lagoon,” Solari said.
Commissioners Flescher, Zorc, and Solari voted in favor of tabling the project and Commissioners O’Bryan and Davis voted against it.
Several members of the community spoke out against tabling the project, urging commissioners to nix the issue once and for all. Commissioner Flescher agreed.
But for now, the lagoon advocates who have showed up meeting after meeting in protest of the Oslo Boat Ramp improvements will rest assured their fight was not for nothing.
The Commissioners were considering several changes to the small boat ramp area, including paving the parking lot to allow for a dozen trailers and nearly a dozen more vehicles.
Oslo Road, which is a narrow unpaved road leading to the ramp, would have been widened and paved. Widening the road would necessitate removing almost 1.5 acres of red mangroves.
As for the ramp itself, the project called for lengthening the dock by 32 feet. Doing so would allow boaters to tie off their vessels while waiting.
The project also called for dredging muck from the channel, which opponents say would disrupt and damage seagrass beds.