A Wolf in Oyster's Clothing?

 
When is an oyster company not really an oyster company?

That’s a question residents in Northumberland County, Va., are asking after a real estate developer applied to Virginia authorities for permission to lease 250 acres of oyster planting grounds in Barnes Creek.

The request has raised eyebrows because the developer, Tom Dingledine and his Bluff Point Holdings LLC (BPHLLC) development company, have been saying for many months they have other plans for Barnes Creek. Those plans, on file with the Northumberland County Board of Supervisors, include dredging 29,000 cubic yards of earth to deepen the Barnes Creek channel to enable boats to travel to and from a large inland marina that Dingledine wants to build as part of a massive development project at Bluff Point.

All of this is very odd because Virginia law is very explicit: oyster planting grounds may be leased for the single purpose of planting and propagating oysters. How can one raise oysters in a creek that is likely to require frequent dredging to accommodate intense boat traffic?

So far, BPHLLC hasn’t provided an answer to the Northumberland community. The development company’s oyster lease request is now pending before the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which has notified Northumberland residents it will likely hold a public hearing on the request if questions cannot be resolved.

There is another contradictory aspect to BPHLLC’s request. Virginia law also states that oyster leases shall be limited to state residents, political subdivisions, or “any firm or corporation chartered under the laws of this Commonwealth for the purpose of oyster culture and the oyster business provided that at least 60 percent of the stock of any such corporation is wholly owned by residents of the Commonwealth.” 

BPHLLC is not a firm or corporation chartered under the laws of Virginia for the purposes of oyster culture and the oyster business. It is a real estate development company that wants to build 530 single and multi-family homes, a 90-room resort hotel and spa, 34,000 square feet of commercial shops, restaurants, artificial lakes, a new marina with 98 slips, and dry storage for 130 boats at Bluff Point.

Several Northumberland residents and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) have written the Marine Resources Commission to point out these contradictions and ask that the Commission deny the developer’s request to lease Barnes Creek’s oyster grounds.

“The BPHLLC application should be rejected,” CBF’s Aug. 19 letter to the Commission says. “As the (company’s development plan submitted to the county) demonstrates, BPHLLC will use the oyster planting grounds at issue for purposes – namely, repeated dredging of Barnes Creek to build the marina, deepen and maintain the channel and, implicitly, to ensure that no other lessee objects to these operations.”

That last point bears repeating. Might BPHLLC be attempting to lock up the oyster grounds in Barnes Creek so others who might want to raise oysters there never can interfere with Dingledine’s plans to dredge and build a marina? Might BPHLLC’s oyster request be a wolf in sheep’s, er, oyster's clothing?

How should the Virginia Marine Resources Commission handle this matter? You can tell the Commission by contacting it here. 

Chuck Epes
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Comments

[Charles ?Vinroot Captain USN (Ret)]

We are Northumberland County residents and do not believe our current (or within the next 15 years) infrastructure will support a development like this. We moved here from Northern Virginia to "get away" from things like this and will do all in our power to make this not happen.

[david mower]

A map of the proposed oyster lease with marine channel overlay is avaialbe here:

http://www.northernneck.com//files/BluffPointHoldingOysterLease-110808.pdf

Scroll down to the first enclosure (page 3).

[oscar]

I find this to be a very interesting article, especially when you commented Might BPHLLC’s oyster request be a wolf in sheep’s,oyster's clothing? I find this to be a great blog.

[logo design]

Regarding Oyster Harvesting. Many years ago I had the opportunity to work with the Department of Marine Resources of the SC Department of Natural Resources. At that time SC mandated and enforced re-seeding oyster beds with oyster shells which was believed to increase the necessary protective anchoring required by young oyster spat.

[James Pelton]

Hiding behind an oyster's beard?

[Abby@moncler pas chere]

I just wanted to comment your blog and say that I really enjoyed reading your blog post here. It was very informative and I also digg the way you write! Keep it up and I’ll be back to read more soon mate.

[girls jeans]

For someone who is not from the area and has no knowledge of oysters, I found this article very interesting and find myself wanting to do more research. Thanks for opening my eyes to something new.

[Jana]

I use a regular old grroecy bag when I make caramel popcorn - put the popcorn in, dump on the caramel, and shake. It works like a charm.I take your point with the potential contaminants, but maybe the amounts are too miniscule. I love eating popcorn out of a paper bag :)