Inside the Moon
Historic Courthouses A7
Farmers Market A2
Issue 641
Fishing A11
The
Island Moon The voice of The Island since 1996
July 28, 2016
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com A group on the north side of town is trying to build the largest free-standing cross in the western hemisphere next to the interstate. According to the pastor who pitched the idea to the Corpus Christi City Council on Tuesday the cross will be just under 280 feet tall and the crossbeam will be 120 feet across. That’s one big cross. They have run into a problem though because the cross would be within ten feet of the neighboring property line, which is land owned by the state, and they need a waver from the city to build as close to the highway and the adjoining property. We’re pretty sure there’s a parable in there somewhere. Something about God and mammon. Come on you folks in the pulpit, give us some help here! There’s a free copy of the Island Moon in it for you.
Brave Bikers
We watched these guys dodging traffic all the way across the JFK Causeway Monday afternoon. Most of the JFK has enough shoulder to give bikers a little breathing room, but as they reach the bridge on the Island side they have to squeeze into a narrow space hard against the outside rail. Just inches from the extended mirrors of passing vehicles. In the event of trouble with oncoming traffic there is but one way out here and if you go out that door watch that first step – it’s a doozy.
This just in…trucks don’t float! In the days before the beach at the south end of the Michael J. Ellis Seawall was blocked to traffic
Michael J. Ellis used to sit at the end of the seawall on Sunday afternoons with his camera and take pictures of cars being swallowed whole by the ocean waves. Each Sunday at least one southbound driver always thought he could whip it right on around the protrusion at the end of the seawall and blast on through to Whitecap Beach. But alas, the Town Cars and Big Boxy Cadillacs weren’t made for ocean travel.
The group said they are undertaking investigating the situation due to a “lack of a media outlet that covers the entire city” that pays attention to such things. That sounded a lot like a shot at the Big Daily. But the questions they raise, on this issue and water especially, have some staying power and could easily become grist for the political mill in this the political season.
Around continued on A3
Free
Weekly
FREE Squatter's Rights or Squatter's Wrongs? Three by Land
By Dale Rankin
Three on the Sea
A new flotilla of abandoned sail boats has turned up in the channel leading to the Cabana North subdivision. The three boats are but the latest in an ongoing battle between the Padre Isles Property Owners Association, the Texas General Land Office, adjacent homeowners, and maritime squatters who attempt to exploit boundaries between the various agencies to store or abandon boats in the channel.
Possible librarians? By Dale Rankin When you think of The Island a problem with squatters staking claim to a piece of land is probably not something that comes to mind. But for the past two months a burgeoning colony of squatters has taken up residence around the Island side of the JFK Causeway, living in a hodgepodge of creaky recreational vehicles and campers and managing to stay under the radar – at least until this week. This week the Corpus Christi Police Department and the Texas General Land Office working closely together took the first steps at removing them by tagging their vehicles with notices that give the owners 48 hours to move or have their vehicles towed. The arrival of the “residents” coincidently coincided with the disappearance of fishing gear, ice chests, and boat gear from boats and buildings in the area which culminated in the early morning hours Tuesday when a man heard people in the parking lot near the Intercostal Canal and looked outside to see two men loading his small boat into their pickup. When police arrived they discovered the boat near one of the camps and two men were arrested. Controlling the burgeoning squatter population there became an issue earlier this year after Nueces County took possession of six miles of beach in Kleberg County where more than twenty permanent camps had been set up. When Nueces County Constables began patrolling the Kleberg Beach they removed the camps leaving them looking for new squatting grounds; the state-owned land around the base of the JFK Causeway was their location of choice.
Their arrival went largely unnoticed until recently when thefts in the area became an issue. As complaints from the public grew the various agencies with overlapping jurisdiction in the area began taking action. The land is owned by the Texas General Land Office but the strip of land within 525 feet of the centerline of the roadway, which as a state highway, falls under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Transportation which has authority to enforce Homeland Security rules which govern vehicles parked directly under the bridge. It was partially under this authority which resulted in the tagging of a camper there this week by CCPD ordering its removal. The two other vehicles marked for removal, aside from being left on state land without permission, were also in violation of several city ordinances and without proper vehicles tags and licenses. As of Wednesday afternoon they were both still there. GLO and CCPD officers said this week now that they are aware of the problem and they will monitor the area to keep squatters from returning.
complaints began coming from homeowners on adjacent fingertips who for several years have been fighting an ongoing battle with maritime squatters who anchor up in the narrow channel and take up residence, either living on the boats or simply abandoning them. No sooner had the boats arrived than GLO officials contacted him to get him to remove them; so far the man has resisted and the boats remain.
The boats are between the jurisdictions of the Intracoastal Canal (Coast Guard) and that of the POA. As of this week GLO officials are inspecting the unmoored vessels to determine if they are illegally discharging petroleum products. The journey of the three wobegotten vessels began several weeks ago when an entrepreneurial boat flipper began hoarding boats in the slips at Anchor Resort. When his fleet swelled to five mostly mastless sailboats he was informed that he could not keep them at Anchor Resort and a few days later they were seen tied up to the bulkheads across the canal. When the man was informed by POA officials they could not stay there the boats were moved to the center of the canal and anchored. When the man was told they had to be moved yet again he countered with, “you don’t own the water,” but soon learned to his chagrin that the POA in fact owns the bottom on which his anchor rested and the boats began their slow, tedious journey to their current resting place; according to eyewitnesses all three were pulled with a single, small trolling motor in a journey out through the Intracoastal which took upwards of five hours. As soon as the boats arrived
While the boats are technically abandoned and can be claimed by any interested party, once someone hooks up the boats to move them they become the de facto owner and are then responsible for disposing of them. In the past the boats would be towed to an island boat ramp and cut up with the pieces disposed of in garbage containers with the cost of disposal paid by salvaging the lead from the boats’ keels. However since 2011 the dwindling price of lead has meant that the value of the salvaged lead will not cover the cost of the salvage operation and numerous sailboats have been abandoned in Island canals. One abandoned boat was beached across from the Padre Island Yacht Club for almost a year before it was removed by the POA. The location where the three boats are currently setting has been a problem area for several years due to the underlapping jurisdictions. As of this writing on Wednesday the boats were still there awaiting their fate.
Future of The Island
Island Area Development Plan Available to the Public By Dale Rankin This Saturday Islanders can voice their opinion of the Island Area Development Plan which will be the blueprint for Island growth over the next two decades. The plan is available for public viewing and comment Saturday, July 30, from 9:30 a.m. – noon, at the Seashore Learning Center gymnasium, at the corner of Encantada and SPID. The plan, drawn up by a subcommittee of the Island Strategic Action Committee, replaces the current Area Development Plan drawn
up in 2004. It covers everything from traffic flow to architectural standards and continues the Island Overlay Zone which regulates paint color, siding type, and other aesthetic items allowed for Island businesses. The draft of the plan is on the City of Corpus Christi’s website at http:// www.cctexas.com/government/citysecretary/boards-commissions/isac. Comments to the plan may be submitted by mail to: Development Services, ATTN: M_PI ADP, PO BOX 9277, Corpus Christi, TX 78401. Or by Email at: padreislandadp@
gmail.com, or through a Facebook page at Padre-Island ADP. The Island Area Development Plan in its finished form will be included in the Plan CC 2035, a citywide planning document currently under discussion by the Corpus Christi City Council. and in reality has played little part in the actual planning of Island growth and development. It includes the universally ignored Island Overlay Zone rules which dictate everything from colors that can be used on Island buildings to a
Development cont. on A3
A little Island history
The Million Dollar Inn Becomes Braniff Place and Then Rubble
Tax questions A group of activists have begun regularly haranguing the Corpus City Council on the inequity between the tax rates paid by private homeowners when compared to the rates and capped values of heavy industry, especially along the port. They address the council each week and we couldn’t help but notice there was some noticeable squirming going on up on the council dais this week.
Live Music A18
by Mary Craft The Million Dollar Inn was sold in l972 to Resort Enterprises which was made up of President Eric Labian and four other investors. The hotel was closed to upgrade the main building and expand the third floor over the portico. The hotel rooms were freshly painted. The Padre Island Investment Corporation (PIIC) located on the third floor would occupy the expansion for more needed space. The corporation initially owned 4500 acres in the mid 60s and was responsible for island development including infrastructure, canal dredging, bulkheads, streets, sewers, water lines, etc.. The sales office for the Galleon Bay lots and the lots for future
subdivisions was also located here. The Island was not yet annexed by Corpus Christi so the city was not involved in any of this. The hotel was reopened as Braniff Place because Braniff International Hotels, Inc a subsidiary of Braniff Airlines was contracted to manage it. Braniff Place was not the same hot spot it was under the management of the flamboyant former owner/ manager Joe Fay. People would come from in town, Port Aransas and surrounding areas to enjoy the music and dancing that a live band provided Tuesdays through Saturdays. Joe had connections with downtown and arranged for many community events to be held at the hotel. Braniff Place had a restaurant and
History continued on A4