Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Packery plans don't vex Port A residents

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Monday, July 3, 2000

Packery plans don't vex Port A residents
Mayor Glen Martin says he doesn't fear competition
By Jonathan Osborne
Caller-Times

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Boats line the marina near the Trout Street Bar and Grill in Port Aransas on Thursday. Last week, the Corpus Christi City Council approved a taxing zone to help pay for dredging the Packery Channel, which would give boats another direct link to the Gulf of Mexico. Some say the dredging - and potential tourism development on Padre Island - could impair Port Aransas' economy.

PORT ARANSAS - Fifteen minutes down the road, the city of Corpus Christi is poised to cut a clear path to the Gulf of Mexico in hopes of creating an alternative place for fisherman to run their boats, and developing a new seaside tourist destination.
   On the surface, opening Packery Channel might seem to pose a threat to the people and businesses of Port Aransas, who for years have profited from their monopoly on thoroughfares to the Gulf. But if the town's residents are worried Packery Channel will spur the kind of development that could steal their business and keep it, so far they aren't showing it.
   "It's not really a fear of competition," said Port Aransas Mayor Glen Martin. "We have a uniqueness that they wouldn't be able to duplicate."
   Martin said he believes the opening of Packery Channel might hurt business in Port Aransas initially, but the city will survive long term.
   "The people that like Port Aransas will continue to come here,'' he said. "I don't see Packery shutting down Port Aransas."
   In fact, some of the town's business owners believe Packery Channel could spur the kind of development that will benefit all of Padre Island, including Port Aransas.
   Virginia Corn, owner of Virginia's on the Bay restaurant, said she welcomes anything that will lure more people to the island.
   "If they get the people that far, they're going to end up here," Corn said. "It'll help the economy, period."
   And some dismiss the opening of the channel as no threat at all.
   Packery Channel "is another gimmick," said Edwin Myers, who vacations in Port Aransas. "People come (to Port Aransas) because it's not Galveston, and it's not South Padre Island."
   Getting the project launched

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

People on a personal watercraft enjoy the waves near Packery Channel Bridge. Corpus Christi City Councilman Mark Scott is pushing for the channel dredge, in hopes it will generate new business in the island.

   Before any sand starts turning, the city of Corpus Christi must gain approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will inspect the project to see that it is both technically and environmentally feasible. Once the reports signal the green flag, the federal government has earmarked about $19.5 million for the $30 million project.
   The local partner - in this case the city - must kick in the remaining $10.5 million.
   Last week, the Corpus Christi City Council gave City Manager David Garcia the go-ahead to set up a special taxing zone to pay for the local share of dredging the channel.
   Within the zone, which encompasses the area immediately surrounding the channel, the city and other taxing entities - including the county - would agree to forego additional tax revenue above what they now receive. Instead, increases in tax revenue driven by the project would fund the project.
   Drawbacks
   The major drawback with that plan, Martin said, is that Port A - as it's known by tourists and locals alike - is a part of Nueces County. Therefore, taxpayers in the community would in part be contributing to an initial downturn in their own economy.
   "The bottom line is that I think the majority of Port Aransas believes that we can compete business-wise for those people," Martin said. "But nobody wants to lose another customer to a project and then turn around and pay for that project. We are part of Nueces County. We will be part of the $4 million that goes into the deal at the county level."
   Martin also wants to know who will maintain the dredging year after year.
   "Packery Channel for the most part will be built with federal dollars," he said. "I personally think it should be maintained with federal dollars, but if that source is not there, who's going to pay for it?"
   Tax factors

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Virginia Corn, owner of Virginia's on the Bay restaurant in Port Aransas, says she supports development on Padre Island.'If they get the people that far, they're going to end up here,' Corn said. 'It'll help the economy, period.'

   A report from Economic Research Associates, hired by the city to study the viability of the financing zone, shows that even by conservative estimates, the taxing zone will bring in more than three times the amount needed for the entire project.
   The cumulative tax revenues between 2001 and 2020 are estimated at $90 million.
   Corpus Christi City Councilman Mark Scott, who drove his 1998 campaign on the promise of dredging the channel, said the project would do the opposite of stealing business, whether from restaurants or sport fishing, from Port Aransas.
   "The theory is this will generate new business to the Island," Scott said. "A lot of that new business will go to Port Aransas for shopping. It will bring (Padre Island and Port Aransas) closer together.
   Different feel
   "When there's one hamburger joint, you get 10 people," he said. "When there's five hamburger joints you get 100 people. The people in Port Aransas are concerned that they are going to lose business to Packery. I've said that Packery ultimately will only increase their business."
   Scott said the development around Packery Channel would have a completely different ambience than the laid-back, fishing town-feel of Port Aransas.
   "We're looking at a high-end resort community," Scott said. "This is all about creating a development that we don't have here or anywhere else along the Texas coast. This is a Hilton Head (S.C.) kind of concept."
   And as for the sport fishing industry, large boats will still need to dock in Port Aransas if they want to travel to the Gulf because they won't be able to clear the bridge on Park Road 361 that spreads over the channel.
   "There's no funds available to raise the bridge," he said.
   Giddy on Padre Island
   Sonny Smith, a fisherman who docks his boat in Port Aransas but lives in Rockport, said some boaters who live closer to Packery Channel will make the move.
   "I don't see it taking very much away from (Port Aransas)," he said. "People that live in Corpus and Flour Bluff are going to put their boats in (at Packery Channel)."
   While there's mostly indifference toward developing Packery Channel in nearby Port Aransas, residents and business people on Padre Island are mostly giddy with the prospects.
   "It's going to create business," said Luis Gonzales, who lives on Padre Island and is the general manager of the Port Aransas Whataburger.
   "With most of the owners out here (in Port Aransas), it's like a wait-and-see attitude," Gonzales said. "In Padre Island, we want it. We know it will bring the value of our home up."
   And Gene Guernsey, a real estate agent with Remax Metro Properties, said the real estate market on the island fluctuates with the promises of Packery Channel.
   "The impact of Packery Channel on the real estate market on Padre Island has been phenomenal," he said. "In the past week, I sold a $223,000 house to a couple from the Hill Country, a $124,000 townhome to an Austin millionaire and I sold another $115,000 townhome to another couple from San Antonio. They're all buying them for second homes."
   In Guernsey's opinion, with the dredging of Packery Channel, Padre Island could become the playground for those reaping the benefits of the booming economies around the state.
   "Austinites are going to naturally find us because we're on the coast," he said. "When we reach a point where we've got something as recognizable as a boat pass into the Gulf of Mexico, the whole state of Texas will take note and we'll see people bringing their money here from all over the state."



Staff writer Jonathan Osborne can be reached at 886-3716 or by e-mail at osbornej@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

[an error occurred while processing this directive]