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Sunday, April 2, 2000

What to do with 350 island acres
Port seeks plan to oversee the inevitable development
By Andrea Jares
Caller-Times

Alberto Martinez
Caller-Times

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Only a few oil docks and shrimp bait houses dot the 350 acres of Harbor Island owned by the Port of Corpus Christi.
   The sparse landscape, save for the oil docks, are a blank slate for developers hired for the port to find the best use for the property.
   Developers from the Florida-based firm Gee & Jenson envision the island just west of Port Aransas as a site for water sports, oceanfront residences and tourist retreats.
   The entire island is 550 acres and the port already has set aside six of its 350 for a casino cruise ship operation.
   The developers say they want to work closely with the public to find out the concerns that people may have about developing the property.
   "The key part of all of this is finding out from a market perspective what will Harbor Island become that is economically viable - that is viable for the port and viable for the community," said Charles Hendrick Jr., regional manager of maritime development for Gee & Jenson. His comments were part of a public hearing that drew more than 100 people in Port Aransas last week.
   Those familiar with developing the Gulf Coast say Harbor Island will go the way of most shoreline property.
   "I work all around the Gulf of Mexico," Hendrick said. "And the entire Gulf waterfront, like it or not, is being developed, one way or another."
   Whatever plans are in store for the island, it is certain that they will be far removed from the identity the island has had in the past. Before there was a Port of Corpus Christi, the Corps of Engineers dredged Harbor Island to handle South Texas cotton shipments. A 1916 hurricane obliterated the port at Harbor Island. The island later became a place where tanker ships offloaded oil. About 25 tanks and three docks remain.

To comment
To comment on plans for Harbor Island, call:

Lori Baer
Gee & Jenson Engineers-Architects-Planners Inc.
(561) 515-6611
e-mail lbaer@geejenson.com
Sidney Faas
Goldston Engineering
888-8100, ext. 116
P.O. Box 2886, Corpus Christi, Texas 78403
Fax: 888-8600
e-mail sfaas@goldston-engineering.com
Patrick Veteto
RVE Inc.
887-8851
e-mail rve@rve-inc.com

   The Harbor Island study comes at a time when Corpus Christi is pursuing the Packery Channel dredging project, which is seen as the key to an explosion of development on Padre Island. Sidney Faas of Goldston Engineering, which is involved in the Harbor Island study, said the plans for Harbor Island are envisioned to complement development elsewhere on the South Texas coast, not compete against it.
   For example, he said, the Harbor Island development would be more likely to feature top-dollar residences rather than lavish hotels.
   The developers suggest three scenarios: a resort community, a residential area or an expanded industrial area.
   Extension of Port Aransas

Resort development - golf course, RV park, entertainment, ecotourism, resort hotels and large marinas. "You can almost put a whole city by itself out there," said Scott Barber, landscape architect with Gee and Jenson. "But we want it to tie in with Port Aransas itself. It will be basically an extension of the existing town."
   Return on investment
   The goal of the study is to find out which use of the port property will bring the most jobs and the most return for the investment. The analysts will look at the market for each of the suggestions and the cost of each plan in their study.
   The findings are expected in three months. During the time of the $100,000 study, there will be at least two more public meetings.
   The crowd of mostly Port Aransas residents who attended last week's meeting seemed most concerned with how traffic would be affected by the addition of hundreds of new workers and residents funneling through State Highway 361.
   They were already concerned about the traffic that would be generated by the casino ship. Tim Lenensaler, captain of the ship, said the casino cruises will rely on mass transit such as buses and possibly a hydrofoil to transport many of the expected 1,400 customers a day to the island.
   Traffic concerns residents
   Bill McKay of Port Aransas was one of the area residents who was pleased with the proposals, but he raised concerns about bottlenecks on Highway 361.
   "You've got to have some way to get these people in and out from this part of Harbor Island," he said. "You've also got to consider how you're going to get out of here in an emergency. At the height of the Winter Texan period, it's hard to get to and from Port Aransas and it's certainly not going to get any better."
   His remarks were met with applause.
   Others were concerned about the availability of fresh water on the island, the potential for flooding and how the area would compete with other hotels and housing developments planned for the area.
   Eliza Large of Port Aransas, who is in favor of a resort area with RV parks, asked the developers to consider the environment when developing the island.
   "My main concern is the impact on the ecosystem, maybe with the golf course because of the chemicals they will put on there to make it look nice. Keep it natural. Don't harm the environment."


Business writer Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at jaresa@caller.com

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