The Port Authority offered the residents the right to construct, at their own expense, a docking facility on the St Thomas shore near the current cruise ship dock in Crown Bay. Residents were irate that the Port Authority had given up a public access so easily. Among the residents, speaker after speaker cited their years of using a public access, and the importance of not giving up public access over leased lands. Citing Rights to sunken land, Open Shorelines and free beaches, speaker after speaker cited reasons why the marina had a responsibility to make dock access available to all residents, not just owners of mega-yachts. Speakers compared the denial of access to a public dock to telling certain residents that some can use a parking lot but not others.
Public parking is open to all.
Public access should be open to all. The residents had copies of a letter from the federal Highway Commission that designated a federal highway from Crown Bay Marina to the Water Island Ferry dock landing. This federal highway is designated VI 360M and connects the two islands by ferry from Crown Bay Marina to Water Island. The designation allows the federal government to expend funds for the repair of the water island dock and established a right of way for the ferry to operate from Crown Bay Marina. The Port Authority said they would investigate.