b'C o m m u n i t yTexas is unique among the dozens of coastal states in that we legally mandate pub-lic access to our coastal beaches by way of the Texas Open Beaches Act (TOBA) that was passed in 1959, right around the time Padre Island was eyed for develop-ment. The act applies to gulf beaches only, and not to inland bays, rivers and lakes. By law, while property ownership extends to the shoreline, an unobstructed ease-ment must exist between the vegetation line and the mean low tide line, which of course varies daily. The result is that there are no private gulf beaches in Texas.TOBA does not, in any way, mandate that gulf beaches function as a public road-way, but only that the public be allowed lateral access along the coastline. As we all know, in South Padre Island and Galveston, there are no vehicles on the beach anywhere in developed areas. However, beach access roads lead to public park-ing areas from which beach-goers walk onto the beach, carrying or pulling their supplies. The extreme luxury of driving ones vehicle onto, up and down oceanic beaches is completely unique to the Coastal Bendwhere we are allowed to drive on virtually all beaches for more than 90 miles, from the Port Aransas south jetty to the Port Mansfield north jetty on the national seashore.Those of us who grew up going to Padre and Mustang Island beaches in vehicles and then moved to other coastal communities where cars are not allowed on the Flashes from the Islandsbeach, definitely knew what we missed. Even the most pro-growth Coastal Bender PastBefore Hurricane Celiais loathed to give up the wonderfully ingrained experience of loading up the truck in 1970 and the protectiveor SUV with the kids, the dogs, grandma, the fishing poles, BBQ pit and the chaise seawall, Island House and thelounges and finding 30 lateral feet of space on your favorite island beach to spend Million Dollar Inn were thethe perfect afternoon in our tropical paradise.largest properties. The DonAt the same time, beaches that serve as open roadways are also the top barrier to Patricio Wooden Causewaymajor development on our islands. In 2007, this writer interviewed the most fa-(right/upper) provided regularmous Texas oilman, Ray L. Hunt, whose persona was the model for J.R. Ewing on access to Padre Island for theDallas, and who happens to be the money behind Woodbine Development, the first time, in 1927.Schlitter- builder and operator of dozens of the countrys most successful hotels and resorts.bahn Corpus Christi (right/ If you had 200 yards of beach with no cars on Mustang Island, you would have lower) was a big hit for threehad a Hyatt golf resort five years ago, Hunt said at the time, having been person-seasons, but problems withinally familiar with the proposed City of Corpus Christi ordinance that would have ownership led to its foreclosurecreated a pedestrian beach at Packery Channel, but failed at the ballot box the prior and sale. The proposed conceptyear. Intrawest was ready to move forward with a $1 billion resort development on for the reconstruction of BobLake Padre, but knew that hotel guests paying $500 a night would not be excited Hall Pier (below) was recentlyabout dodging vehicles in order to enjoy the gulf beach.released by Nueces County, and is planned as an expandedAt some point in the near future, as the wave of visitors and buyers from San destination for fishing, dining,Antonio and Austin grows larger, citizens may again be confronted with a sightseeing and shopping. choice. At the end of June 2021, six months into Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardos first term, the City of Corpus Christi formerly adopted and released its Padre/Mustang Island Area Development Plan, which represented 15 months of work that included public meetings, on-line surveys and hundreds of hours of re-search and analysis by City staff, the Pearland-based Freese and Nichols consultan-cy, and multiple volunteer committees.The report was astute at breaking down island demographics and economics, along with the timeline and process for developing the plan, and results of an on-line survey of island residents. The report [Google search Padre Mustang Island Master Plan click the first result on cctexas.com] provides a detailed Future Land Use Map, which interestingly reveals that 69% (15,000 acres) of the islands total City land is either permanent open space or water, and will never be developed. Over 56% of the empty land that can be developed is classified as Planned Development and includes over two dozen canals that are yet to be fully dredged and bulkheadedan area used by island residents for water skiing and other recreation. The Citys 50-page plan provides an excellent vision for aesthetic themes along with very specific, proposed infrastructure improvementsit is truly an outstanding effort and worth a read. The one issue that is not mentioned, however, is the need for a vehicle-free stretch of beach if a major, island vacation resort is to come.42THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'