By CATHERINE DONNELLY
Special to the PRESS
On Tuesday, March 14, the City Commission Chambers Meeting Room at the City of Port Isabel was filled with citizens who were concerned about a proposal by Duke Cooper to rezone several lots from A-1 (Multi-family) to B-2 (Second Business District) for a new business that was to include a water taxi service and coffee shop. This proposal had initially been denied at the recent City’s Planning & Zoning Meeting on Feb. 15.
While the City Council ultimately agreed that this could be permissible by city standards with certain caveats, there was another layer of permissions that had to be sought from the Port O Call Homeowners Association before the business could move forward.
City Manager Jared Hockema suggested a possible path forward with a special use permit to restrict business hours, to not allow air boats or alcohol, and to contain all customer parking to the property so as to not impact residential street parking. Violations of the special permit would void their permit to operate. Ultimately, the controversial item was tabled for now.
Cooper was invited to stand up and address the crowd. He introduced himself and stated his background and intentions, then apologized for creating fear in the community which caused them to show up en masse at the meeting that night. Cooper further stated that he just wanted to, “start a cool and innovative business that would benefit the community whether that’s a water taxi or maybe a small marina.”
Mr. Roland from the Port O Call neighborhood stated that they were not afraid of this proposal, but they were concerned about several things, including that no one had approached them first for their approval before going to the city. The matters of interest included why Cooper chose to place his business in what is probably the most expensive residential area in Port Isabel. It is an area where the water channels are privately owned by the landowners because they pay taxes to the middle of the channel, hence their authority over the private waterways of their neighborhood.
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