Palm Beach officials continue to closely monitor Riveria Beach’s efforts to secure a state environmental permit to establish mooring fields in the Lake Worth Lagoon.
As of Monday, April 28, a permit had not been issued, and a state environmental official had verbally assured Palm Beach that a state permit approval is “not imminent,” Palm Beach Town Manager Kirk Blouin said.
“It appears there is no imminent approval,” Blouin told the Palm Beach Civic Association.
In early March, town officials said they had learned from state authorities that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection expected to issue the permit for the mooring fields without about two weeks.
That triggered renewed objections from Palm Beach, which has strongly opposed Riviera Beach’s proposal to establish one of three mooring fields south of the Palm Beach/Lake Worth Inlet, about 500 feet from Palm Beach’s North End shoreline.
Blouin said the DEP has since requested additional information from Riviera Beach about the design and management plan for the proposed facility, including a “flushing study” to determine water quality.
“That information could take six months to two years to complete,” he said.
A mooring field is a legally defined area within a body of water, established by a local ordinance so a government can regulate activities within it.
Riviera Beach officials say mooring fields would help address the problem of derelict vessels and boaters’ dumping of waste into the lagoon. The proposed mooring areas are currently filled with vessels that routinely anchor above ecological areas and seagrasses.
The mooring fields also would ensure unobstructed and safe navigation for mariners while providing a revenue stream for the city, Riviera Beach officials say.
Riviera Beach is proposing to establish three mooring fields. The northern field would be immediately north and west of Phil Foster Park, and the central field would be south of the Blue Heron Bridge and northwest of Peanut Island.
The southernmost field would be west of Palm Beach’s North End, extending from the southern turning basin of the Port of Palm Beach down to the Safe Harbor Rybovich Marina cross channel.
A state permit would not confer final approval for Riviera Beach to establish the mooring fields. The city would also need a federal environmental permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a submerged land lease from the governor’s board of trustees.
Palm Beach has registered its objections to the plan with the state DEP and the Army Corps and has retained the Akerman law firm in West Palm Beach to represent it in its opposition.
Blouin said the town’s opposition is limited to the southernmost of the three proposed mooring fields, which he said would fall within the town’s jurisdictional waters.
“It’s groundbreaking, for them to try to do this,” he said.
According to Riviera Beach’s proposed management plan, the southernmost field would accommodate 100 vessels, excluding dinghies.
Blouin has said that, with one police board and a single part-time marine officer, Riviera Beach is ill-equipped to enforce regulations related to waste dumping and is unlikely to respond to complaints about boats breaking free, light and noise pollution and trespassing.
“We believe Riveria Beach’s inability to manage and properly enforce it would be problematic for our residents,” Blouin said. “As a result, the burden of enforcement will fall on the Town of Palm Beach.”
Mayor Danielle Moore and Town Council members have also voiced their objections since learning of Riviera Beach’s application for mooring fields in 2022. They say the mooring field would create a nuisance and invasion of privacy off the town’s northern shore.
Blouin said there are bills being prepared in the State Legislature for additional regulation of mooring fields, Blouin said.
Palm Beach plans for proposed legislation to be introduced during the next session that would prevent one municipality from establishing a mooring field within the jurisdiction of another municipality, he said.
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