A joint meeting of the Coastal Marshland and Shore Protection Committees approved an application from the owners of the Ft. McAllister Marina that would allow the marina to add one dock and expand the other three, and also increase the length of the boat lift by 20 feet.
The request also included approval to build out three feet on the existing dock to better accommodate a fish-cleaning station.
The dock modifications would provide 3,754 linear feet of dock space that would have 107 boat slips.
Toby Hansen, the manager of the marina, addressed the committees on Thursday, explaining the rationale behind the proposed changes.
The only person to comment on the proposed changes before the vote was Chandra Brown, a representative with the Ogeechee-Canoochee River Keepers organization.
"We appreciate the spirit of the project," she said.
Brown said her group was not opposed to the application but requested that the river be marked to indicate shallow areas and sandbars, and requested that keeping the marina open to the public be a condition of the application’s approval.
After Brown’s comments Hansen said the owners of the marina had planned to add markers to the river to help ships navigate. He also said the owners were adamant about the marina remaining open to the public.
The boards’ approval of the application was contingent upon 10 special conditions, including adding signage alerting boaters to the presence of manatees, that a post-construction survey be presented to the committees and that the marina stay open to the public.