Posted on June 16, 2021
The haves get more, the have-nots pay for that more is the story of water access in Anne Arundel County.
The only funding for new public water access in County Executive Steuart Pittman’s proposed fiscal 2022 budget is $75,000 for a feasibility study of Valentine Creek Park. That’s not crumbs, that’s dust.
To add insult to injury, the 80% of the people in Anne Arundel County who do not live in waterfront homes or water-privileged communities are paying for private water access in water-privileged communities. This is wrong.
The county can and must invest public funds for new public water access in fiscal 2022 and beyond. It’s that simple.
In 2020, the county gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in stormwater fees to water-privileged communities to fix their private community beaches ― and yet the long-promised public swimming beach at Beverly Triton Nature Park has been slow-rolled twice in the past two years and the county will not open the public swimming beach at Mayo Beach Park to the public seven days a week.
Think about that when you look at the stormwater fee on your property tax bill. In 2020 the county directed a quarter-million dollars in Waterway Improvement Fund money to “beach nourishment” of a water-privileged community’s two private community beaches — and yet will not invest in the next public boat ramp to serve more than 10,000 trailered boats in Anne Arundel County. Think about that when you look at the Boat Excise Tax on your boat’s bill of sale.
The county rents a county-owned boat ramp, marina and 17 boat slips for $1,000 a year to a private community for its exclusive use. Think about that when you get turned away from the Fort Smallwood Park boat ramp when it fills up on the weekends or pay your slip fee.
The claimed $1 million for new public water access funding in County Executive Steuart Pittman’s proposed FY22 budget is smoke and mirrors.
Artificially inflating the new public water access account by cramming expensive renovations of two existing county wharves into the new public water access account does not create new public water access.
Citing long completed and shelved feasibility studies does not create new public water access. Citing already constructed projects does not put new public access funding in the proposed budget.
And citing the public swimming beach at Beverly Triton, funded and slow-rolled for two years, is rubbing salt into the wound.
The answer to more public water access is using public money for new public water access instead of private water access. Anne Arundel County has thousands of acres of publicly owned waterfront land.
Use our public money to leverage our public land into new public water access for all of us. Open the swimming beach at Mayo Beach Park seven days a week today. Open a rustic kayak launch at Weinberg Park next week.
Build the already funded public swimming beach at Beverly Triton Park. Fund an improved kayak launch at Beachwood Park.
Use fiscal ’22 stormwater and Waterway Improvement Fund money to revive Hawkins Cove and Robert Eades Park. Use fiscal ’22 stormwater money to protect water access at Weinberg Park and Historic London Town.
Fund the next public boat ramp to serve the historic 2020 boom in boat sales. Use public money for new public water access. It’s that simple.
