Skip.. AA County Public Ramps
 

Skip

Public ramps have come up over the years and have been shot down.

Main reasons are:

1) Land acquisition. Can't be bought with general fund money.
2) Upkeep. Can't be kept up with general fund money. Has to be self sufficient.
3) NIMBY. Biggest problem. Queen Anne even had one dynamited.

Ft Smallwood would be perfect and has been tried. Yes, the NIMBY attitude gets it shot down everytime. Too much increase in traffic, the locals complain.

I don't live in that area so I can't say for sure....but even in the height of boating season what could we be talking about? 100 boaters on a Saturday?

The local businesses in that area would flourish.

Truxton Park has a nice ramp but I think the city of Annapolis owns that.

Ft Armistead is still owned by Baltimore City and is NOT well taken care of. Plusit can be downright dangerous to leave your vehicle there unattended, and the unsavory activities happening in the woods isn't very attractive either.

Anne Arundel has more coastline along the bay than any other county. The Bay and its tributaries account for 534 miles of shoreline in the county*

And I think we have the LEAST public water access.







* http://www.visitannapolis.org/media/...iew/index.aspx

Reds, is #2 a county or state thing?

ramp access does stink. i am forunate enough to have a community ramp and live close to SPSP. However, I feel even greater for those who wish to access the bay and dont have a boat. Shoreline fishermen have little access to our states greatest public resource.

State. Been through the courts years ago.

State and federal monies can be had for the land acquisition, building the ramps.

The NIMBY is the main thing. Neighbors don't want the mess, noise associated with the ramp. Believe me, there is plenty of mess and noise.

I tried to get a community ramp in our neighborhood and NIMBY is what shot it down. We have less than 200 houses and 1/3 of them are waterfront and don't need a ramp.

I have seen $30.00 per launch at one marina and the one I use is going up to $20.00. I buy an unlimited ramp pass for $300.00 and he said they may raise that to help cover the cost of the new ramp. I may end up across the road where two other marinas offer unlimited passes for $150.00 on the Rhode River.

Not to mention that AA county has the biggest ramp in maryland already and it only costs $3 to launch (sandy pt)..I wish we had a ramp like that in baltimore county, all we have is a few tiny ramps and they are always crowded. the people in AA are lucky

Technically speaking, Sandy Point is a State facility, not Anne Arundel County.

But your point is well taken; we have an excellent facility smack dab in the middle of prime fishing area and we ARE thankful.

But for the rest of the county, and those with say 18' or smaller boats, there's no love to be found for the other 532 miles of shoreline. I'm certainly not going to take my 15' bass boat out of Sandy Point except on the most perfect of days and even then it's not such a great idea. But I'll run that sumbitch all up and down the Magothy and hug the shoreline around the bay and catch nice fish all day. We're blessed to have Stripers, White Perch, Yellow Perch, Pickerel, Catfish, Bluegill and Redear Sunfish in the Magothy as well as the seasonal Croaker and Blues.

What part of Balto County are you in? The ramp at Mariner Point park up in Joppa is really nice and they have a lot of decent parking. I know that's Harford County but it's an easy ride from anywhere on that side of town.

I'm lucky to have a great neighborhood ramp to use year round and I actually finally got a slip in one of our neighborhood's community owned marinas. Only took me 6 years of being on the waiting list. :rolleyes: But my boat is so small it's easily trailerable (and I prefer to keep it out of the water anyway) so I rarely use the slip except when I know I have a long weekend free for some boating.

Reds - One Blown up in QA County
 

Are you talking about the one in Grasonville ? Many years ago...If so, I was a kid back then but lived less than a mile away from the ramp...Was beautiful for a couple of weeks till the locals, helped convince the county that it was a bad idea...Scott and I were by there earlier this year and its still fenced up and overgrown after all these years...The fishing and crabbing around that area was amazing....

No. The one I remember, was on the Wye River.

The ramp was a bother to the neighbors whose property values back then, probably were in the half to million dollar value range, 25-30 years ago.

Reds - It's going to be a slow and painful trip but I'm hoping some new ramps will be put in.

There needs to be some outside the box ideas to get things jump started.

I'll post more in a few weeks.

FWIW: Fort Smallwood is crawling along. Tentative date is mid 2014.

I see the NIMBY crowd as nothing except selfish. They have access to the water but want few others to enjoy it.

AA county does have some water front property but most are too small for ramps. They can be made to accommodate small car top boats and kayaks.