Two boat rental companies ordered to stop operations on West Palm Beach waterfront
West Palm Beach has barred a private boat rental club from operating on the city's downtown waterfront and required a water-recreation company to end some services after a warning that their activities violated state rules.
JetRide, a club that lets members use boats at locations across Florida, was told to end operations at the city's docks in March. Visit Palm Beach, which offers boat tours and kayak and paddleboard rentals, was required to remove a floating dock and had to stop its rentals.
Both moves were prompted by a warning from the state that the business' waterfront activities violated rules for use of docks in the Intracoastal Waterway, city records show.
The city operates its downtown docks, which extend into state-owned submerged lands in the Intracoastal, through a leasing agreement with the state, which requires it to abide by state regulations.
Last year an inspection by the state Department of Environmental Protection found that Visit Palm Beach and JetRide had installed their own floating docks alongside the city docks, in violation of state rules, records show.
In addition, a city attorney said JetRide's operations violated a provision of the city's lease with the state that requires all dock space be available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis.
'JetRide is a private membership-only boat service whose occupation of the City docks prevented use by the general public on a first-come basis,' Deputy City Attorney Nancy Urcheck wrote to a JetRide representative in April. 'The City cannot allow a private members-only boating club to occupy and operate from the City docks.'
An executive at Visit Palm Beach, which leases space on the waterfront from the city, told The Palm Beach Post that it had to remove its floating docks and other equipment. As a result, Visit Palm Beach stopped renting many watercraft it used to provide to customers along the waterfront.
'We had to remove our floating docks and everything except our one catamaran, Hakuna Matata,' Leigh Bennett, Visit Palm Beach's director of business development, said via email. 'Our other catamaran, jet skis, kayaks and paddleboards are no longer available from downtown. Without the floating docks, it's too dangerous.'
A February consent-order agreement with the DEP required the city to pay a $5,000 fine, remove 'all unauthorized structures and vessels' and install signs making clear that the docks are available to the public on a 'first come, first served' basis.
A DEP spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
JetRide's ban from the waterfront prompted complaints from employees and customers, who filed into a city commission meeting this month to ask for the company to be reinstated.
'We bring life to the waterfront,' said Travis Zielasko, the company's founder. 'We're asking for the opportunity to continue serving the community we came from.'
The company is aimed at people interested in boating but who don't have the financial means or space to own and maintain their own boats. Members pay a monthly membership fee and are able to use the company's boats for daily outings.
JetRide, which formed in 2017 in West Palm Beach, said in a message to the city that it has approximately 500 members in the city's downtown and another 1,500 in Palm Beach County.
The company said in a statement that it wants city officials to work with the company and the state on an arrangement that would let it continue to operate on the docks. Shutting down the company's operations, it said, denies hundreds of city residents an easy and affordable way to take boats on the water.
'We're proud of what we've built here,' Zielasko said in a statement. 'All we're asking for is a meeting — to sit down, talk and figure out a way to continue giving people access to boating in West Palm Beach.'
Sitima Fowler, president of the West Palm Beach Downtown Neighborhood Association, said she and many other downtown residents used and enjoyed the company's service. She said she was surprised it was being banned so suddenly after operating downtown for years.
'We are so sad that we've lost the only boat rental amenity we had on the waterfront,' she said. 'It doesn't make sense to us at all. JetRide has been in business for a long time here. I know we've been members for over three years. All of a sudden they can't do business here?'
Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: JetRide, Visit Palm Beach restricted on West Palm Beach waterfront
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