ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Anne Arundel County residents can no longer use a boat ramp that cost taxpayers $2 million to build and maintain over the past decade.
WATCH: Anne Arundel County boat ramp closes to public despite $2 million investment
Private property signs now greet boaters at the Discovery Village boat ramp in southern Anne Arundel County, along with a letter alerting people that the ramp is no longer open to the public.
The change has frustrated local boaters like Kevin Gebicke.
"I care a lot about boating and we already don't have enough access to this," Gebicke said. "It's a major inconvenience."
The county council decided to stop funding the lease despite more than $1 million spent to build the ramp and another $1 million spent in rent over the last decade.
"It was cheaper to not use it than it was to maintain it under the current lease," said Gebicke.
The county didn't own the land it paid to build the ramp on. The lease allowed the landowner to bill the county for any repairs needed that weren't completed within 15 days.
County officials have said more than $1 million in repairs were submitted to the county.
County Councilor Shannon Leadbetter, who represents the area with the boat ramp, said in a statement: "I found that the terms of the previous lease at Discovery Village were a bad deal for taxpayers and left their dollars increasingly vulnerable over time."
The closure leaves boaters in a county with hundreds of miles of coastline with only two public boat ramps.
"With anything, cost decides whether people can boat and there's nothing wrong with somebody that's got the 12-ft John boat going fishing with his grandfather all the way up to the guy that's got the $2 million yacht. Everybody should have equal access to the water and when you don't have ramp access, like public water access, it creates this great disparity of our county," Gebicke said.
Councilmember Leadbetter said she's advocating for more boating access – just one that protects taxpayer dollars better than the old lease.
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