DUNEDIN, Fla. — As a waterfront community, Dunedin consists of many people who own boats. A spot familiar to many boaters is the Dunedin Marina.
Currently, city officials are developing a master plan to make the Dunedin Marina more accessible to the growing boating community. City officials explained, that since the pandemic, the number of people using the marina has exploded.
Boaters have seen the impacts of that, especially on the weekends when the marina is packed with people. A big concern residents have is there are so many people using the marina, but it's not up-to-date.
Some who have been using the marina for more than a decade want the city to consider upgrading infrastructure while keeping the marina's small-town charm.
"We don’t want to be some big fancy marina," one boat slip owner, Harold Schomacker said.
Schomacker and other boat slip owners are heavily involved in the city's master plan for the marina. They have been attending public meetings to have their input heard about the plan.
Those who use the marina made it clear to city officials that there are timely upgrades needed.
"The docks have needed some repair work for a while now," Schomacker added.
One of the more immediate issues city officials plan to tackle is replacing the docks.
"We have our structural engineers and they were able to put together a priority list of what needs to be done first, second, third," Lanie Sheets, the administration superintendent for Dunedin said.
Sheets explained engineers were able to determine the docks would need to be one of the first things replaced.
Other residents who don't own boat slips also constantly use the boat ramp. Some have expressed there needs to be more than one ramp available for boaters.
"The main problem is getting the boats in and out. If we can get two ramps here that would be fantastic," one boater, Mark Goodpasture said.
There has been no decision made on if they will add another boat ramp, but one option is to have two ramps. City officials explained they are still in the planning phase, which means there's more time for public input.
The Commodore for the Dunedin Boat Club is urging others who use the marina to attend public meetings.
"The main thing is it's not done yet and you still have time for input into it," Commodore Terry Hopkins said.
City officials echoed they really want to hear from residents about the changes they want to see. The master plan they create will consist of upgrades that will happen for years to come.
"It could be everything from the slips we have behind us and what those look like in the future… to our fishing pier, our sailing facilities and our beautiful Edgewater Park and boat ramp," Sheets explained.
The master plan is set to be approved by the end of this summer. In the next couple of months, city officials will hold more public meetings for residents to attend. They haven't set dates for those meetings yet but will update online when they do.
As for the construction phases of this project, city officials explained a project this size will take years to complete.
