Downtown day-use boat plan grows to 56 slips. Some on council want housing money instead.

Downtown Pensacola may soon be a hotspot for boaters.

The Pensacola City Council approved a $1.8 million contract to build 48 boat slips for a day-use marina at Community Maritime Park and approved budgeting another $127,000 for up to eight day-use boat slips in the publicly owned area of the Baylen Slip Marina.

While the council unanimously supported the Community Maritime Park marina, it was divided on the Baylen Slip proposal, which passed in a 4-3 vote.

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The original plans for Maritime Park called for some type of marina and a breakwater to protect the marina was built in 2015. The city got serious about the effort in 2019 when it applied for grants to build the marina.

In 2020, the city took the first steps in building a floating dock at the location in the wake of Hurricane Sally to provide a pickup location for private boats operating as water taxis while the Pensacola Bay Bridge was out of commission.

The council’s vote Thursday to award Hewes and Company LLC the contract clears the way for construction to begin on the marina at the Maritime Park.

The $1.8 million is being 100% paid for by a grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission out of funds from the 2010 oil spill. The grant is from the same source of funds that were once being allocated to a fish hatchery on Bruce Beach before the city scrapped the idea.

City officials weren’t sure the grant would cover the entire cost of the marina so the council had previously allocated federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act toward the marina.

Once the FWC grant came in, the ARPA funds were freed up.

Council President Ann Hill proposed using $127,000 of the ARPA funds as seed money to eventually build more day-use slips down the street at the city-owned portion of Baylen Slip Marina.

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The section of Baylen Slip in question is a 200-foot area of the city waterfront directly behind the Harborview on the Bay building on Cedar Street. The location is a stop on the proposed bluewater paddling trail.

Last year the council voted in July to offer that part of the Baylen Slip up for lease, and a developer proposed to build a small marina that could accommodate nine boats.

In November, Hill led an effort to block the lease proposal and keep that area under direct city control.

The area was damaged in Hurricane Sally and the city is working on a project to restore it along with the compromised seawall at the end of the Palafox Pier that is supposed to protect the waters in the Baylen Slip.

Hill said the $127,000 could be used to build up to eight boat slips on floating docks.

Deputy City Administrator David Forte said city staff did a rough estimate and that the minimum for one boat slip and a kayak launch that would be accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act was $160,000, but six slips with a kayak launch would be $260,000.

“It may need further funds,” Hill said while adding the repair project to the area wasn’t expected to begin until 2024. “… We have plenty of time to plan, make it really ADA accessible and something to be proud of instead of a broken, sad-looking public spot.

Councilwoman Teniadé Broughton objected to the idea noting the council had just approved a marina and a skate park project.

She said she felt every remaining penny of ARPA should go to the city’s affordable housing program. The city currently has $2 million from ARPA set to go into affordable housing initiatives.

Councilman Jared Moore agreed saying it didn’t make sense to build more boat slips when they had just approved the construction of 48 boat slips only 2,000 feet away.

Councilman Delarian Wiggins joined Broughton and Moore in voting against the measure.

Other council members supported the idea. Councilman Casey Jones said while 48 slips were going into Maritime Park he didn’t know how much they’d be used until the rest of Maritime Park is built, but the Baylen Slip is right next to Palafox Street.

“Palafox has a lot to do,” Jones said. “I could see nine people at a time wanting to pull their boats in there and actually go to Jaco’s or walk down to one of the other restaurants in the area. So I think this is a good project.”

Jim Little can be reached at [email protected] and 850-208-9827.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola approves 48 slip day marina for Maritime Park