Virginia Coastal Program: 2005 Coastal Grant Project Description and Final Summary
Project Task:
FY2005 Task 92.02
Grantee:
Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority
Project Title:
Public Access Acquisition Protocols
Project Description as Proposed:
The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission’s Public Access Site Inventory was completed in 1999 through a Virginia CZM Program grant (Task 51). This study identified 326 potential Virginia Department of Transportation maintained road terminus points, defined as any primary or secondary road that ends in or near proximity to any tributary that could yield access to public waters.
This project will improve coastal resource management by facilitating direct access to the waterways of the Commonwealth through establishments of protocols to transfer terminus points to the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority (MPCBPAA), a political subdivision of the Commonwealth.
This project will identify four or five significantly different examples of terminus points and develop a protocol to facilitate the transfer of each to the MPCBPAA. The protocol will be developed by legal counsel specializing in land use law. The Protocol will characterize each site, identify obstacles to determining ownership interest, describe an effective process to resolving ownership obstacles, describe a process to mediate clouds that prohibit full access by the public, and characterize potential claimant positions. The outcome will be a standardized protocol that the MPCBPAA may use on the remaining 300 plus access sites. The protocol will be usable by other groups within the coastal zone desiring to provide public access to the Commonwealths waterways. Additionally, while developing the protocols, the legal counsel will actually affect transfer of some sites to the PAA’s ownership or back to member jurisdictions as test cases.
Federal Funding:
$60,500
Project Contact:
Lewie Lawrence - (804) 758-2311; LLawrence@mppdc.com
Project Status:
Project Completed
Final Product Received:
Middle Peninsula Public Access Authority Protocol on Acquisitions of Landing and Road Endings - 2006 - PDF
Middle Peninsula Public Access Authority Review of Road Endings in the Middle Peninsula Planning District - PDF
Middle Peninsula Road Ending Site Matrix - PDF
Project Summary Provided by Grantee:
The Public Access Acquisition Protocols project will improve coastal resource management by facilitating direct access to the waterways of the Commonwealth through establishment of protocols to transfer VDOT Road Ending terminus points to the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority (MPCBPAA), a political subdivision of the Commonwealth.
Access Authority staff and participating project localities identified five significantly different VDOT road ending terminus points and desired to have a protocol to facilitate the transfer of each from VDOT to the MPCBPAA. The protocol and research work was conducted by legal counsel specializing in land use law and Department of Transportation-Right of Way easement issues. The protocol characterized each road ending site, identified obstacles to determining ownership interest, described an effective process to resolving ownership obstacles, described a process to mediate clouds that prohibit full access by the public, and characterized potential claimant positions. The project outcome is a Protocol that the MPCBPAA will use to discuss various policy issues associated with the over 300 remaining VDOT road ending access sites and pursue several legislative solutions. The Protocol will be usable by other groups within the coastal zone desiring to provide public access to the Commonwealth’s waterways via VDOT road endings.
Disclaimer: This project summary provides the federal dollars initially awarded to the grantee. Due to underexpenditure or reprogramming of grant funds, this figure may change. For more information on the allocation of coastal grant funds, please contact Laura McKay, Virginia Coastal Program Manager, at 804.698.4323 or email: Laura.McKay@deq.virginia.gov
A more detailed Scope of Work for this project is available. Please direct your request for a copy to Virginia.Witmer@deq.virginia.gov
