Feb. 24, 2009 — Planning and Natural Resources Department enforcement officers are targeting Coral Bay for cleanup, the latest in an ongoing series of bay visits that began a couple of years ago.
"We're doing our jobs," said Roberto Tapia, Planning's acting enforcement director, on Tuesday. "People are calling us and fussing."
Coral Bay boat owners are upset because Planning began its enforcement with no notice, no press releases and no public meeting.
Tapia said there were "notices" in the newspaper when it began its cleanup of Cruz Bay. That occurred in November 2007. (See "Planning Department Works to Bring Swimming Back to Cruz Bay Beach.")
Since then, Planning cleaned up Great Cruz Bay, and is currently working on Chocolate Hole as well as Coral Bay, Tapia said.
A public meeting about the enforcement measures will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday at Skinny Legs Bar and Restaurant.
Officers are putting notices of violation on unregistered boats, derelict boats, illegally moored vessels, moored houseboats because they should be on a dock, and boats with no holding tanks. Additionally, the officers are "stickering" dinghies and small boats sitting along the shoreline.
While Tapia said he had no firsthand knowledge of this situation, Coral Bay residents said the Planning officers "stickered" boats belonging to the Kids and the Sea program. They sit at the shoreline to make it easier for the youths to put them in the water.
Boats with notices of violation will be confiscated in 48 hours if they are not removed, Tapia said.
One boat owner, who did not want to be named, said the enforcement officers told a kayak owner he had to get the boat registered.
Planning spokesman Jamal Nielsen said that kayaks must be registered.
"Anything where the hull gets wet," he said.
Boaters said that if Planning followed through on its efforts to clean up Coral Bay, they might have some long-term success. Instead, officers show up every so often to issue notices of violation, but don't come back to see that the boats don't return.
"They haven't been here in five years," said one Coral Bay boat owner.
Sandy Mohler, who owns Coral Bay Marine, located near the Coral Bay dinghy dock, said officers even stopped boaters coming ashore at the dock to check for vessel registration.
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