New Bills Would Protect Waterfront Homeowners from Oysters

Oyster aquaculture floats

Waterfront homeowners could have more say over oyster leases

The Maryland General Assembly is facing a number of oyster bills this session, mostly regarding sanctuaries and management. Two of those bills are seeking to bolster the authority of waterfront property owners, allowing them to reject or permit certain shellfish operations in front of their homes.

House Bill 1309 and Senate Bill 876, introduced by Del. Brian Crosby (D-St. Mary’s) and Sen. Jack Bailey (R-St. Mary’s, Calvert), would give waterfront property owners in the state the right of first refusal over those water column leases.

Put into effect in 2010, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ commercial program allows aquaculture farmers to purchase water column leases at $25 an acre, or submerged land leases, also known as bottom leases, at $3.50 per acre. The bottom leases, which are not visible on the water’s surface, are not included in the proposed bills.

“Most reasonable people are not against aquaculture,” Crosby said Wednesday. “But people also move to St. Mary’s County to enjoy its scenery.”

“You should have the right to say whether somebody can have those cages and the floats right in front of your house,” Bailey, a retired Maryland Natural Resources police officer, said Monday during a St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Olde Breton Inn.

“This isn’t just about views and property values, it’s a real concern about their riparian rights and having access to the water,” Theresa Kuhns, government affairs director for the Southern Maryland Association of Realtors, said.

Currently, DNR is required to notify adjacent homeowners on behalf of an applicant when they advance far enough in the application process, although they are not required to notify all nearby property owners who may be affected.

St. Mary’s Commissioner President Randy Guy (R) has also previously said DNR did not adhere to its policy of notifying county government officials when the leases were awarded.

The bills would change the application process by giving property owners 20 days after they are given notice to decide if they want to purchase that water column lease first.

“It doesn’t mean they have to use it,” Crosby said Wednesday, adding the bills would also allow the homeowner to “purchase the rights in front of their property” and re-lease that area “under their terms.”

A homeowner taking “up that area in front of their house, without using it, just to keep other people from coming in” illustrates the NIMBY, or not-in-my-back-yard, attitudes of some waterfront homeowners, said Brian Russell, president of the Southern Maryland Shellfish Association and aquaculture farmer with Shore Thing Shellfish.

I like the fact that the bills put the onus of blocking the aquaculture back on the home owners by giving them the right of first refusal, before selling the lease to the aquaculture firms. The prices seem ridiculously low, however.