We report to you from the front – the waterfront that is. It seems that while we are all looking elsewhere private businesses are quietly grabbing and blocking access to publicly owned waterfront.

On the edge of North Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West was this little public beach. Really – you had to be a local to know about it. The liveaboards gave it the name, “Dinghy Beach,” because that is where many of them came to shore.

A few months ago The Blue Paper received a tip that the Marriott Beachside Hotel was fencing off Dinghy Beach. And yes, the Marriott’s wrought iron fence had been extended completely blocking public access to the water. A freshly planted screen of Bougainvilea, that has since died-off, was hiding the whole thing…

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SEE RELATED: INVESTIGATION: HOW THE COUNTY GAVE AWAY THE LAST BIT OF PUBLIC WATERFRONT ON STOCK ISLAND

 

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