I read your piece in Ocean City Today titled "Pines property values not jeopardized by boat slips, Realtors say" with some interest.

The premise of the article is itself interesting. As one forum member put it in regards to another issue, "It's like asking the fox if security is adequate on the henhouse."

Not surprising that local Realtors would give the answer they gave. Surprising though that they answered in absolutes, given the nature of the question. At least I used the words "very likely," leaving room for the possibility of being incorrect. The only absolute fact is that no one can say for sure and no one will ever be able to say for sure.

If I was writing an article and wanted the answer to the question to be what it was, I too would have asked the question of local realtors.

Perhaps the question should have been framed differently. For example, what would a Realtor who lived in waterfront home think about a marina constructed in front of their home that might be within 100 feet of their dock.

Or perhaps frame it this way - would you prefer to keep a view of a rather quiet lagoon or see a new marina installed? Or, would you prefer to buy a waterfront home overlooking a quiet lagoon or one overlooking a marina 100 feet away?

Had an interesting conversation with Jack Barnes about this, and he made a cogent observation. It is that many newcomers to Ocean Pines want a boat and a slip, thinking they will be out on the water quite a bit. The reality is, however, after a fairly short time many of these folks rarely use their boats.

I know a fellow who has a dock and a boat on a lift. Each spring a boat storage place comes and puts the boat on the lift. It sits there all summer. In the fall, the same storage place guy comes and takes the boat for winter storage. The boat is an ornament.

I suspect this is the case with many of those who want an OP subsidized slip, otherwise the waiting list would be much larger than 100.

By the way, Marlene Ott is essentially parroting what Dan Stachurski says about the marina. People are not completely stupid, however. OPA may not have officially voted to build the marina, but it did vote to spend $25,000 to prepare the plans and seek a construction permit. In addition, at least five board members have spoken in glowing terms of the new marina. One went so far as to say the view for homeowners in the vicinity would be better with marina piers and boats than looking at an open lagoon!

I have no horse in the race, but absolutely sympathize with home owners in the immediate area. Finally, anyone who thinks the overall values of homes in Ocean Pines is going to increase because we add 54 slips anywhere in the Pines is whistling Dixie.

Here's the in-context message you took a few words from, and I'll stand by all of them:

1. It is perfectly natural for those who see some sort of new construction and the associated traffic and problems that may come with its use as something that will lower the value and enjoyment of their homes. They should not be automatically tagged with names like NIMBY for expressing their concerns.

2. Amenities like the golf course, tennis, etc. are open to membership of everyone in the community. These new boat slips will not be open to everyone. Sure, anyone can get on a waiting list, but the practical matter is any new slips are spoken for BEFORE they are even built. Those who obtain slips can hold them more or less forever. This is an entirely different situation than with all our other amenities. Perhaps if there were some sort of lottery system each year one could make a case the slips were available to everyone.

3. Building 54 additional slips in a community where MAAC chairman Bob Able says there may be 2000 boaters who would like slips is not going to increase property values for the overall community but very likely might decrease property values for those in the immediate area of the community.