Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Island
Dock Plan Has Some Worried
Crowding, traffic in river channel cited
A proposal for up to 100 new boat docks at Towhead Island is
drawing opposition from people who say it would kill access to an adjacent
narrow channel just upriver from Waterfront Park.
The Waterfront Development Corp., the coach of the University of
Louisville women's rowing team and the developer of RiverPark Place, a
600-unit housing project nearby, are among those opposed to the
application.
"It would kill all recreation in that area," said Richard
Ruggieri, the U of L coach. "… It would render the channel useless
for our purpose."
The waterfront agency, which oversees Waterfront Park, voted last week
to have its staff write the Army Corps of Engineers to oppose granting a
permit for the docks. The docks "would create increased boat traffic
and congestion in the channel," waterfront spokesman Mike Kimmel
said.
Steve Schoening, a vice president of Nugent Sand, whose affiliate,
Towhead Island Co. LLC, owns the 10-acre island, declined to comment on
the application or concerns about it.
In its application, the company proposes 2,500 linear feet of docks for
lease or sale along the south bank of the island. The docks would extend
above the 100-year flood plain.
Kimmel said the project would detract from Waterfront Park and noted
that the applicant submitted no information on how Towhead dock boaters
would get to and from their crafts, as there is no bridge to the island.
He also noted the application didn't say how the docks would be served
by utilities, or how emergency responders would get there.
Towhead, just upriver from the Big Four Bridge, is an uninhabited
wildlife sanctuary and is prone to flooding. The adjacent channel is about
180 feet wide, but varies as the river level rises and falls. American
Commercial Barge Lines for years has leased the north side of the island
to fleet barges.
The corps has given the public until Saturday to comment on the permit
application. Greg McKay, a corps regulatory branch manager, said concerns
will be sent to the applicant for response. The corps also could decide to
hold a public hearing.
McKay has asked the Coast Guard to evaluate how the docks would affect
channel boat traffic. He said that information could be key in deciding
whether to grant the permit.
Lt. Cmdr. Phillip Ison, chief of the Prevention Department of the Coast
Guard's Ohio Valley Sector, declined to comment, pending the study.
A rowing center at the east end of Waterfront Park across from Towhead
is the home of the U of L women's rowing team, at least four high school
rowing teams and a charity rowing program for the disabled.
"We use the channel every day, six days a week, from February
through October," Ruggieri said, adding that his rowers stay in the
channel and don't venture out into the navigable Ohio waters if it is dark
or the water is rough.
The island and its channel offer "a safety net," he said,
adding "we would be in serious trouble without it."
Steve Poe, the lead developer in RiverPark Place, said his company
plans to invest more than $200 million in shoreline housing. Its marina
would replace the old Louisville Municipal Boat Harbor, but would not
extend any farther out into the channel because part of it would be dug
out of the shore. Corps approval of the final RiverPark Place project is
pending.
Poe said he doesn't want to engage in "bashing" the Towhead
company, but he said, "we have an overall concern about the safety in
the channel."
Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089.