Extending no-wake zone in Jupiter generates debate
Boaters are against it; others who frequent the Intracoastal disagree.
JUPITER — Boaters blame paddleboarders for getting in their way.
Paddleboarders blast boaters for going too fast.
Business people say they want to protect the environment.
Politicians struggle for compromise.
Welcome to the ongoing battle to regulate boat speeds on the Intracoastal Waterway in north county.
The most recent controversy is about a plan to extend the no-wake zone for boaters about one mile north of Cato’s Bridge, which goes from Tequesta to Jupiter Island.
Boaters now can go up to 25 mph in the 125-foot-wide, 10-footdeep channel reserved for watercraft.
A no-wake zone would limit boaters to about 5 mph, increasing the one-mile trip to the north end of Coral Cove Park from two minutes to six minutes.
Especially on weekends, the free parking spaces on A1A north of Cato’s bridge — named after a popular bridge tender — are packed with beachgoers.
People yoga on paddleboards. Kayakers float along with their kids, dogs and friends.
Snorkelers search for sea life. Fishermen try their luck from canoes. Families have cookouts on the sand.
People swim from the shore as the boats pass.
“It’s a deeply congested area. Our population is growing. Boats are bigger and more powerful. I like to go fast in my boat. But you have to do it where it’s safe,” Tequesta Mayor Abby Brennan said.
George Gentile, a Jupiter resident and chairman of the Jupiter Inland District, said extending the no-wake zone is not necessary.
As long as boaters stay in their channel and swimmers and kayakers stay in their area, there is no problem, he said.
“They keep whittling away the areas where boaters can go the legal speed. If they keep adding no-wake zones, it’s going to take two hours to get to Port St. Lucie,” said Gentile, who often boats in the area.
Even at the beach, opinions are divided.
“A few boaters fly through here. WESTPALM BEACH — When friends and family see news stories about the fatal shooting of Phillip O’Shea by a Palm Beach County sheriff ’s deputy in Jupiter on Friday evening, they can’t believe it’s him.
T h e O ’ S h e a they knew was affectionate, funloving and likable, his grandmo t h e r D o r i s Edwards of West Palm Beach told The Palm Beach Post on Saturday. Now they have learned he had a hidden drug addiction and that he committed crimes to pay for drugs.
“When they put violence on the news, I say, ‘Are they talking about Phillip?’ He wasn’t violent,” Edwards said. “It was definitely
a drug thing that caused all of this. He was two people. He really was.”
Friday ’s fatal shooting took place in a parking lot near the Wood Duck apartments on Military Trail south of Toney Penna Drive. Three deputies have been placed on administrative leave following the shooting, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at the scene Friday night.
The PBSO has not released their names or the details of what happened in the parking lot. None of the deputies was injured, but a K9 named Casper was shot and had surgery Friday night.
Sheriff ’s officials say O’Shea, 46, was the gunman involved in a shootout with deputies about 12 hours earlier at a suburban West Palm Beach industrial park, off Okeechobee Boulevard just west of Interstate 95.
Deputies had chased O’Shea