About 30 members of the Tampa Bay Sierra Club showed up for a scheduled tour of the Fred and Ida Schultz Preserve in Gibsonton April 19 but were turned away at the gate.
“There was a misunderstanding and the guards on duty insisted that they have the names of those taking the tour ahead of time, which they did not,” said Jean Doyle of Apollo Beach in an email to Gail Parsons, vice chairwoman and outing chairwoman for the Tampa Bay Sierra Club.
Some, including Parsons and Doyle, who was among those turned away, say misinformation is being given out about a proposed ferry and the land on which its dock would be located.
“The issue is that the ferry promoters are saying what people want to hear, depending on which group they are addressing,” said Parsons in a telephone interview Tuesday, May 6. “That whole area is a preserve, not a park. But people want a park, they need parks in that area, so the preserve area is being billed as a future park when the promoters speak.”
And where transportation across the Bay to work is a concern, that is what is emphasized at the meetings, she added.
Parsons then said that what upsets her most is that the environmental community is not up in arms over changing the designation of a “preserve” to accommodate anything — not just a ferry landing or a park.
What is being proposed is a high-speed ferry between an area currently designated as preserve land and MacDill Air Force Base.
Much of the environmental community is supporting the idea of a ferry in hope of eliminating gasses from cars and using less oil, Parsons said. “But they haven’t let us in to see the nesting birds and spoil islands that were created there by dredging. They make excellent habitat.”
Several meetings around the area have been attended by residents who have heard park promoters’ proposals.
Former County Commissioner Ed Turanchik, who has earned environmental awards from the county, is heading up the push for HMS Ferries Inc. to build and operate there, with HMS promising to pay the $35 million a year that is the estimated operating cost for the first ferry.
Turanchik says it will save roads, gas and time for the many in South County who work at the Air Force base. He said eventually there could be other ferries to sporting events and to attract tourism.
But Parsons and her group do not understand how land bought as ELAPP, or Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program, in 2002 could even be considered for a building project that will reduce the natural habitat.
“That’s why the county buys ELAPP lands,” Parsons said. “We can’t lose the nesting birds there. There are herons and egrets nesting together. The spoil islands included in this area are listed as one of the best habitat areas for nesting birds in the entire Southeast.”
The tour of the lands was supposed to be rescheduled for May 3, but the guides said the weather would be prohibitive.
“Now we’re hoping for June,” said Parsons. “I just wish the environmental community would become involved and see the real issues before it’s too late.”
The main issue is whether saving on roads and gas for commuters and giving area residents a park overrides the need to keep land designated as preservation intact.
The Observer News and The Current have followed this issue through three news stories now, and will continue to do so.