Letters to the Editor published in The Daily News:

 

Letter Rife With Errors About TOBA

Harvey Michaels recently sent a letter that was full of factual errors concerning the Texas Open Beach Advocates organization (The Daily News, June 25).

He alluded to TOBA being an organization of 15 loud members that are attempting to sway the planning commission to opening more beach to vehicular access. That is only partly true.

TOBA is dedicated to providing diversity of access as required by the Open Beaches Act. The membership has grown from 0 to nearly 700 active members in less than one year, and has collected 7,000 signatures on a petition to keep the far west end open.

Far from being “Wild West” (Mr. Michaels’ words), the group is comprised of doctors, lawyers, marine biologists, media reporters, law enforcement personnel and others across the state.

Because the TOBA Web site contains an open message forum format, there are some that post messages more often than others, with most of the membership simply reading the board without comment. Both proponents and opponents of open beach access post there. Mr. Michaels could even do so, if he chose to.

Our biggest complaint to the planning commission is not the outcome (though we did not like it), but the arrogant and underhanded way over half the folks in attendance were treated and disregarded in favor of a select few beachfront landowners.

Landowners on the bay side were disregarded and even laughed at by an influential commissioner on at least one occasion. I can only hope that arrogance comes back to haunt this commission.

Sam Lucas
Pearland

Letters for September 23, 2003
 

(In a letter published Sept. 4, Harvey Michaels of Galveston advocated a policy that would “let our dunes heal by stopping the vehicles and not stopping the economic engine of progress.”)


Development Causes Beach Erosion

There is not a single member of Texas Open Beach Advocates that denies the city of Galveston the ability to advance its economic and fiscal well-being. We simply feel that such advancement should not come at the expense of the citizens of Texas, the environment or the law.

Numerous studies, as well as the General Land Office, have set the standard of 200 feet landward of the vegetation line as the minimum setback for development.

The city of Galveston and developers have foolishly ignored this, setting a requirement of 25 feet. That this development is on a beach that is eroding at a rate of up to 10 feet per year is evidence enough of the folly of men attempting to control Mother Nature.

Mr. Michaels ignores the fact that studies have shown that the No. 1 cause of beach erosion is development. That development is destroying Galveston’s sand dunes, not vehicular access.

Further, by preventing vehicular access, the city of Galveston and the developments on West Beach have created de facto private beaches. This privatization serves to effectively disenfranchise any person who does not own beachfront property from their right to enjoy the beaches. Remember, the beaches belong to us all.

Daniel Starr
Houston

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keep Our Beaches Accessible To Drivers.

Mother Nature moved the dunes, not vehicles. In recent years, I have watched one major hurricane and multiple tropical storms completely remove the dunes. Harvey Michaels refers to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, stating, “Texas still has plenty of drivable beach. ...”

Where? Surely not on Galveston Island. Slowly but surely “the ability to better serve the residents of Galveston is based on the city making maximum use of every resource,” as Mr. Michaels says, meaning it will “allow developers to complete total occupation of the beach front for a few home buyers and advertise the purchase by saying, hey, come buy our home and have a private beach.”

Yup, this idea would really promote Galveston as a “destination resort.” Well, at least for a few individuals and developers. But for the many Houstonians who come to Galveston to visit the beaches, well, forget you.

Charles Winsor
Galveston