Sperry Ocean Dock Public Meeting on June 11th
Here’s a little reminder for those folks that are interested in the ongoing debate over the Sperry Ocean Dock property along Schuster Parkway. There will be a public meeting next Thursday in the City Council Chambers to discuss their permit application to add 19,000 square feet of decking to provide parking for 60 cars, mooring dolphin relocation and maintenance and repair including shoreline stabilization and pile replacement. Check out the public notice for all the details and photos. There’s some good reading in there … If you have opinions, let them be heard.
Filed under: General
9 comments
D dolly varden June 5, 2009
Are we supposed to know what “mooring dolphins” are?
For what it’s worth, I think the docks/Navy ships should go away/be substantially scaled down. It messes up the feel of the soon to be completed (and beautiful, if you don’t look to the southeast) Chinese Reconciliation Park. And it makes it harder to envision the downtown to Old Town bike/pedestrian trail that will eventually be built (it makes too much sense to never happen, right?).
C crenshaw sepulveda June 5, 2009
From the wikipedia:
A dolphin is a man-made marine structure that extends above the water level and is not connected to shore.
Dolphins are usually installed to provide a fixed structure when it would be impractical to extend the shore to provide a dry access facility. Typical uses include extending a berth (a berthing dolphin) or providing a point to moor to (a mooring dolphin).
Learn something almost everyday.
T tacomatonian June 5, 2009
So I haven’t dug through all the fine print yet… And I’m not going to start on if I think this dock should be here or not. But I really have to question that this work is primarily for ‘maintenance of the existing structure’.
It will build a new dock in place of an old dock that is well past its prime. It is a little late to classify this as maintenance. Also, it looks like they are increasing over water dock surface, as the existing dock lets a lot of light through all the holes in the deck. Should be some mitigation to offset new over water shading.
The berth is another question. Why do they need a new breasting dolphin farther east? Is this really due to a 15mph wind load increase? And they push the mooring dolphin farther east as well. What this really does is allow them to moor larger vessels at the dock.
I haven’t seen where cold ironing is addressed and I guess it probably wouldn’t be under these permits. But it really should be required. That anyone can dock ships this big for long term without it is ridiculous.
O olvido June 6, 2009
The Navy ships are tourist. The view of the paper mill and new Ruston condos mess up the waterfront.
S Squid June 8, 2009
There’s a proposal to build a trail from downtown to Old Town? I must have missed class that day. How are they getting around the grain terminal/railroad tracks. Seems like there are a lot of immovable objects/bottlenecks in that area, even without the big boats.
Still, if it can be pulled off somehow, that would be great.
C Christine June 8, 2009
There IS a trail from downtown to old town. Yeah cars whiz by at 100mph and it’s narrow, but it is a trail.
S Squid June 8, 2009
Ahhh. I thought they called that a sidewalk.
D dolly varden June 9, 2009
I thought they called it a dilapidated sidewalk that few people take except out of necessity or curiousity (usually only once!) — it’s not fun to run, bike, or walk on. There are obstacles (the railroad, the unnecessarily large and fast freeway) in that neck of the woods to a good bike trail, but surely we can replace the old, narrow, landslide-prone sidewalk with something better.
J jamie from thriceallamerican June 9, 2009
Schuster Parkway Critical Mass ride, anyone?