VALPARAISO — The Compass Rose restaurant has requested Department of Environmental Protection permission to build a dock extending nearly 100 feet into Tom’s Bayou.
The plan has met with opposition from some of the residents who share bayou-front property with the restaurant.
“Compass Rose, in its quest for commercial gain, will trample the public’s right to enjoy a unique and treasured waterway,” said Dianna Dylewski, who owns waterfront property on the same road, Highland Street, as Compass Rose owner Michael Harris.
Dylewski said the 96-foot dock, with a 25-foot long T at its end, would extend far enough into the narrow bayou to disrupt a counter-clockwise traffic pattern enforced by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Its location, close to a John Sims Parkway Bridge, also would push boaters entering Tom’s Bayou closer to the center of the bayou and increase the risk of collision with boaters exiting the waterway, Dylewski said.
“Quite a few people are very upset. A small bayou can’t really accommodate a pier,” she said. “One business could negatively impact this waterway.”
Harris and his restaurant manager, Mark Nelson, said the planned dock will allow parking for no more than six boats and would provide access from the water to people visiting the new Compass Rose oyster bar, which is scheduled to open mid-June.
They said they believe the objections being raised come from a “vocal minority” and are convinced from input they’ve gotten from customers that an opportunity to reach the oyster bar by boat will be well received.
Harris said Tom’s Bayou is 450 feet wide and the dock would only extend to within 30 feet of the center of the “boat lane.”
Concerns about increased traffic or the dock causing dangerous situations on the water are overblown, Nelson said. There are already “20 to 30” docks on the bayou, he said.
“We think boats coming to the oyster bar will idle under the bridge and move into park,” Nelson said. “There is never going to be a situation where you’ve got 20 boats out there waiting to park.”
DEP records indicate the permit request from Compass Rose and is considering it. They’ve also received and processed a number of objections to the project.
In one document Heather Mason, the DEP employee evaluating the project, noted “because there are so many objections, the project will be elevated to a higher level in the department for recommendations or final decision.”
The document also states that if the permit is granted, DEP will provide a “notice of intent” to give opponents an opportunity to petition against final approval of the dock.
City Commissioner Joe Morgan, who along with Commissioner Kay Hamilton owns property on Tom’s Bayou, said if the state issues a permit to build the dock he thinks the city would have to reconsider its vote to allow an easement for the land upon which it would be anchored.
He said restaurant owners did not present a clear picture of the size of the dock they wanted to build when they came to the commission earlier in the year seeking the easement.
“They said they just wanted a small T dock that allowed for a couple of boats,” he said.
Morgan said he personally believes the 96-foot dock would disrupt the flow of traffic in the bayou.
“I hope the appropriate authority will make the correct decision based on the peoples’ input. If they don’t we may have to take action,” Morgan said. “We’re not there to implement a dock that will interfere with other people.”
Harris said Morgan doesn’t necessarily represent the majority of the board. He also noted the oyster bar’s opening could add 10 to 12 full time jobs to the Valparaiso economy.
“We’re working very closely with the city commission. Morgan probably does not speak in a fashion representative of the majority of the city council,” he said. “Mayor (Bruce) Arnold has been very helpful not only for the Compass Rose developing an oyster bar but as one of the largest employers in Valparaiso.”
Hamilton, who until fairly recently was employed at Compass Rose, abstained from voting when the property easement issue came before the council.
Nelson said he’s unsure what Hamilton would do if the issue came before the council again.
“It’s up to her to decide whether she has a conflict,” he said.
Morgan said he did not, as a bayou property owner, need to abstain from any vote on the dock issue because its construction would not provide a direct benefit to him.