HACKED BY CYBER-ATTACK - ALPERENBTN

[Bayslammer]

I am not in favor of the beach closure. I think that growth on the island is going to happen regardless, and with that we will see our public access denied. Growth is important to our area economy. I think the latest land grab attempt for the multi-million dollar resort is positive for our local economy and negative for people who want to drive and use this area of beach. We have to decide if we are willing to give up driving on this stretch of beach to boost our tax base and create jobs. This resort will benefit local fishing guides like myself. I am at a crossroad on this subject. I do not want to give an inch because they will take a mile. I think the developers are proposing restricting driving on this area and allowing beach access to the public. What to Do? Joe
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J.D

[Hardhead]

You said it all. Your own statement is why ANY beach closure should be opposed by all...Fishermen or tourist or home town beach goer's...
I do not want to give an inch because they will take a mile. It started with the 4200' and now another 3200' is being demanded with a promise of more minimum wage jobs and a so-called resort and all kinds of political DEALS along the way.............I will vote against ANYTHING that stops myself & any public individual from being given the right to free access to any Texas beaches that havent already fallen to the demands of those seeking revenues from public land. San Luis Pass beach over by Houston is the perfect example of the future of the Padre Island access. It is promised free access to all but I can attest to the way things are to be.......Signs will read . This beach access is for the use of resort residents & guest only..... Point in mind is the sign at the hotel that reads simply DO NOT ENTER!!!!! This is only the beginning...As a fisherman I would really like to fish the new south Packery jetty but I am afraid that the 7200 feet of beach is too far to walk ...with or without gear to go fishing ....soooo the new developer will actually be gaining its own jetty along with it's private beach.
well enuff of my jibber
Have a great day and go fishin' Just dont plan on fishin the 1.275 miles of beach at the new south jetty
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"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?
I think not."
Hardhead / aka Garry Bujak

[tyler]

I too understand the importance of jobs and growth but so far we have had plenty of growth in Corpus Christi with projects like Whataburger Field and the American Bank Center all promising to increase tax revenue and give us some relief. My taxes are still going up. They did lower a portion of it but the Appraisal District just increases the value of your house and you still end up paying more.
As far as the Resort is concerned, if it were just limited to that area it would be one thing but you can mark my words if they do that eventually all of the beach from Packery to the north end of the Padre Island National Seashore will be a non-driving beach due to the condos, resorts, housing developments etc.
One of the folks in a Letter to the Editor said it best. This is "Ice Chest Segregation". They put the public parking far enough away from the resort so that the chance of any local lugging their ice chests and chairs all the way to the front of their property is slim making it a defacto private beach.
Also what happens when this area is so popular that folks going to visit shops or restaurants and not going to the beach begin parking in the parking lot meant for the beach access?
I was told specifically by three of the council people at one of the Council's Town Hall meetings that this proposal is not one of the those "let us get our nose under the tent" and well close more of the beach later. They said only this stretch yet less than two months later they ask for more.
Do you know the closest parking under the new proposal to the south jetty of Packery is over 1,000 feet. Have you ever tried to lug an ice chest with 20lbs if ice and cold drinks for the family over 300 yards?
I could live with it if it were only the seawall but the Mayor and council have proved that they don't stand by their word.

[daveyboy]

Isn't there a petition?

[tyler]

[BeachBum]

[SurfRanger95]

I know this topic has been beaten to death but re-reading this latest thread on the subject has just re-ignited my aggrivation with not being able to sign any existing or future petitions regarding the beach closure. As an "out of towner" who enjoys not only PINNS but the entire stretch down there, it is frustrating. I am sorry for venting like this but damn, just kind of sucks. I cannot do anything other than phone a "politician" who, if he/she does not listen to their own constituency, is not going to listen to me. I know I am not the only one on this board who feels this way and believe me, though we may not be residents of CC, we share in your frustrations.

Maybe I should try and find a job down there!??
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"I don't wanna live on that kind of island, no I don't wanna swim in a roped off sea. It's too much for me, too much for me; I gotta be where the wind and the water are free." -- Jimmy Buffet

"GUINESS IS GOOD FOR YOU!"

[mastergunner]

Growth on the island does not have to take away what is probably the only place in America where a family can still drive a vehicle up and down a beach. The beach is state land and is a state right of way or legal road. How does driving on a beach stop engineers from building a condo or resort? It is not a safety issue but a way for the owners to set up their own private beach which is state own land. I guess if I didn't want cars driving up and down my street I can just close it, screw everyone else, they can walk to their homes from the end of the street. Sounds stupid but it is the same logic. Why can't the developers explain why a car driving on the beach prevents them from building behind the construction line which by city ordinance is 1000 feet behind the vegitation line or roadway which ever is closest to the water line. People don't realize we have something here you can't find anywhere else in the world, the freedom to drive on beaches for miles. No tax base is worth that price plus do you actually think for the first 30 years or so that resort is going to pay any property taxes? This project with this kind of money has already cut some sweet deals for a lot of people and those people are ones that never go to the beach anyway. Ask Mr. Scott to show some family pictures of the last time he had his family on the beach for the day or any of those people who want it closed. Anybody who uses the beach on a regular bases and wants it closed is lying about regularly using the beach. I live in Portland and some weeks I drive down to big shell and back 2 or 3 times, about 3 hours of driving. If we let the city close the beach that will force everyone eventually on PINS which will force them to close it due to the volume of traffic. Then we will have to use north beach by the Lex which is probably the city councils plan anyway. Then they will charge you an entrance fee like six flags. Development is not always good. If the city would write citations for ordinance violiations like grass and trash they would have plenty of money.
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Hardheads should be the state fish of Texas

[Allen Ricketts]

Gentlemen,I did'nt sign the petition, cause I am not a regrister voter, why you ask, well the city councils treatment of this issue is the reson I don't vote. Money talks and b------t walks, the common man has no chance against the big money, they talk tax bases and jobs, the developers are doing it to make money and couldn't give a dang about jobs or tax bases. As soon as government realizes that sometimes these things are not in the best interest of the people, the better off we be, just look at oil, we are being gouged and nobody cares, cause the moneys rolling in. My 2 cents, Allen

[Magic]

I related on the Breakaway board a few days ago a discussion one day on the CB while we were running a convoy from PINS to fish the PA jetties just after the Packery Channel deal was past. My comment at that time stirred up the chatter but I still think it will come to pass. The comment was that once Packery Channel was finished, the big time developers would hit Mustang Island in mass and it would only be a matter of time before Mustang would look like Myrtle Beach, NC and it would take an hour to make the run from Padre to Port A due to the traffic plus beach access would be on foot only.

God knows we can never give up the fight but I seriously believe we will eventually loose the war. We'll win battles such as the current closures but BIG money will have what they want. It may take 20 years but you can bet that the increasing flow of Snow Birds will buy up everything they can.

For the last two decades I have watched on the Southwest Florida coast where nearly every square yard of coastal ground has fallen to the developer for nearly all the same reasons being used now. There is no driving access now to any beach on the Florida Gulf Coast as a result. What a shame!

I agree the huge number of people that travel from the rest of Texas to the beaches in the Corpus area should have a say in what is going on. We’re the ones that are bringing the majority of the dollars into the community and have been for years. If you’re back here, like me in San Antonio, you can send letters and e-mails to the Corpus area State representatives and the GLO but that’s about it. I guess we can write and e-mail the local Corpus politicos and express dislike and mention that there are other beaches in Texas not under threat and we can just as well take our money elsewhere. If a total concerted boycott effort could be mounted among all of the folks that normally come from out of town, it sure would make a h#*l of a dent in the local Corpus economy.

As I have told others many times, the rest of us owe ALL the local Corpus war fighters a big debt for hanging in there on all of these access issues. We do appreciate it and will lend support where and when ever we can.

Thanks to all. Keep up the good fight!
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Magic

[funmeters]

Maybe what we need to do is take another look at the "illegal" sea wall and if, in fact, there is a federal injunction to prohibit it's construction breathe life back into the injunction. A little shot of their own medicine may be in order. The city council seems to be creating a moving target for those trying to petition a vote of the citizens/users by attempting to recind the ordanance restricting vehicles. This is really bad faith by the council and has really inflamed the population to where the recent announcement to close more beach many now are signing the petition. The city council really shot themselves in the foot on this one. Why would you want to reelect a bunch of bumbeling fools?
Just a note to the rocket scientist that thinks that a stroll across the parking lot to Wattaburger Field is the same as going to the beach let me remind that when I go to the ball game I don't, and am not allowed, to bring my cooler, beach bllanket, beach toys, fishing poles and umbrella. The one who drew this analogy must be hanging out with the City Council too much. One more thing, any disabled person out there who wold want to be a lead plaintiff in an ADA lawsuit would make the City Council think again about a parking lot as the all inclusuve answer to the vehicle issue needs to come forward.

[Guest]

I would think that when the battle is over that there would still be some kind of public access to SPJ, and a possible public parking area right next to the jetties......I thought I read that somewhere....

[Mike S]

Just a thought .....Doesn't the local area already have beaches closed to traffic. Let's see currently there are the following Corpus Christi Beach (North Beach), McGee Beach, Padre Island National Seashore (a part of)
and Cole Park. They seem to want to promote the downtown area, build the resort on Corpus Christi Beach. Close to all the MAJOR tourist sites, like the baseball field, Lexington and the Aquarium. The beaches are safe, if as if Mark Scott was really had a safety issue in mind.
Besides the beaches of North Padre Island do not belong to the Corpus Christi City Council these beaches belong to the people that visit them and the decision to close them to traffic should be left up to the people that
enjoy and use them. I wonder how may times any of these guys have used that beach....

Mike S

[Bayslammer]

Corpus Christi is unique in that our local outdoorsman appreciate our coast and want to protect it. We voted to open Packery Channel and realized the impact it would have on our fishery. This project will provide great offshore and inshore fishing oppurtunities for years to come. I did not want the pass so big developers could come in and buy up all of the land around it. They can't have my beach as far as I am concerned. As for condos and resorts, I am satisfied with what we have. I am thankful to live here and enjoy our areas coast. Corpus would be very less appealing to me without the Laguna Madre and Gulf Beaches. I will enjoy my outdoor adventures far more without the big condos and other eyesores. Let us Fisherman stick together on this and protect what we have. A small group of us still hold our coast close to our hearts and only we can keep what we have and enjoy for others to cherish. Money can buy most everything, but the Island? I think not. Remember the words of Rudy Grigar and how he talked of this sort of thing happening. Joe
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J.D

[Johnny French]

See John Kelley's suggestion posted under Email Campaign. Vote with your messages to the mayor no matter where you live.