Update: Keep Our Beaches Open for all to enjoy

Last May, Keep Our Beaches Open formed to monitor conditions on Vanderbilt Beach. Comprised of concerned citizens, we distributed flyers in Naples Park and on Vanderbilt Beach and are in touch with people around the county.

We have learned that many in Naples Park are avoiding the beach. Many report that last season was the worst yet.

Collier County uses tourist tax dollars, which are technically supposed to benefit tourists, to advertise the beaches of Collier County, both in this country and in Europe. The effort is successful. People flock to our beach in droves during season. With the situation at the south end so untenable, however — parking garage crowed even during the week, people crammed on the beach like sardines on weekends and the beach restrooms used far beyond capacity — it’s time to put the focus back on amenities that benefit tourists and resident beachgoers alike.

Several things affecting public domain and beach access include:

Ritz-Carlton employees, reacting to crowds following the opening of the parking garage more than three years ago, have been involved in several incidents with beachgoers. In May, Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees public beaches, surveyed the beach that borders the hotel. While the resort embellished a media spin about its northern boundary, the DEP actually came to mark its western boundary.

In light of the confusion over public and private beachfront, KOBO asked Collier County to place a sign welcoming people to our public beach and advising beachgoers of public domain rights. In early August, the county put up a sign next to The Ritz-Carlton’s northern boundary, which is not the actual public beach boundary. We notified the state and the county and the misleading sign came down. There is now a marker in the sand at the western boundary of The Ritz- Carlton’s beach. The public is welcome to enjoy the considerable sand to the west of this marker.

Signs tell the story. Every few yards on both sides of Gulfshore Drive along Vanderbilt Beach, NO PARKING ANY TIME signs stand tall. Down at ground level, Collier County Parks and Recreation signs are barely visible. Of six public access points, only three are marked. One sign in particular is always being vandalized. Years have gone by and the culprit eludes capture. Collier County has gone to considerable expense to perfect the science of using cameras on traffic lights. Maybe it could employ the same technique on Gulfshore Drive’s beach access decals.

The county recently floated a plan to charge residents for beach parking, which would effectively take care of the parking problem by causing even more people to stay home. Because of the countywide uproar, the plan has been shelved, but we need to stay in touch.

Conner Park parking is being expanded to add approximately 78 parking spaces. This is a net increase of approximately 60 spaces because the county is planning to take out the 18 free spaces near the entrance to Delnor-Wiggins State Park in order to have room for a turnabout, four restrooms and a walkover to the beach. Work on this long-overdue project might begin near the end of 2010.

When asked why so few spaces are planned, Marla Ramsey, administrator in the county’s public services division, said the county determined that this number is sufficient. She also said the county is requesting that Delnor-Wiggins State Park provide 200 additional spaces in its park, and added that park attendants regularly close the gate before it’s filled to capacity.

An administrator with Florida State Parks in Tallahassee said he knows of no such plan, and noted that because thousands of people walk into the park from Vanderbilt Beach to use its facilities for free each year, determining the park’s capacity involves more than counting cars.

One solution to beach crowding would be to distribute the crowd. Ms. Ramsey suggested that Naples Park residents would put less stress on the parking garage if they were to ride bikes to the Gulfshore Drive access points. While biking is not feasible for many, these public access points provide an excellent means for beachgoers to visit empty stretches of sand for pleasant walks along the water.

Many of us moved here because of the beaches and want to preserve a good thing. Please e-mail or call so that we can continue to develop a database and keep you informed: KOBO, smartieml@earthlink. net or 287-1196. 