Opposition builds against plan to turn Naval Academy park on Chesapeake Bay into golf course

A proposal to turn a 150-acre park overlooking the Chesapeake Bay into a U.S. Naval Academy golf course is facing growing pushback from environmentalists and Annapolis residents.

Located at the mouth of the Severn River in Maryland’s capital, the brimming natural area is home to around 587 different species and is a favored spot for hikers who frequent its many trails, kayakers who launch out into the waters from a ramp area and nature enthusiasts who can peer out at the local environment from birdwatching huts.

Since the spring, Greenbury Point Conservation Area has been under a watchful eye as Annapolis locals, green groups and congressional lawmakers fight to get more information about a previously under-the-radar proposal to build the 18-hole golf course.

A petition on Change.org to keep Greenbury Point as a conservation area has collected more than 5,000 signatures, and a Facebook group called “Save Greenbury Point” has more than 2,000 members.

Joel Dunn, the president of environmental group Chesapeake Conservancy, said Greenbury Point is a “public access paradise” that the community has come to “adore.”

“The Navy has done such a wonderful job restoring this piece of property. They’ve planted thousands of trees, which are starting to get big. … They’ve planted milkweed along every trail, so there’s all these monarch butterflies that fly by your face,” Dunn said. “The idea of turning it into a golf course for an elite few people and excluding those thousands of people that use it each week, just doesn’t sit right with us as a community.”

The Naval Academy has not released any official information, although the proposed redevelopment plan is from Chet Gladchuk, its director of athletics and a member of the Naval Academy Golf Association (NAGA). NAGA is officially behind the proposal, but the Navy would need to approve it.

Gladchuk said he and NAGA should be afforded the opportunity simply to assess such a plan.

“The Association is maintaining a very straight forward approach by just asking for permission to study a vision to enhance opportunities for recreational and mission related use while fully acknowledging every environmental consideration must be responsibly addressed,” he wrote to The Hill. “At this time, it is nothing more than a question.”

Shared use, so far

Residents have long been accustomed to working with the Annapolis-based Naval Academy and typically enjoy a good relationship with Navy officials. The presence of midshipmen walking around Annapolis and the downtown harbor is a frequent sight.

Naval Support Activity (NSA) Annapolis, which provides services to Navy stations across Maryland, owns 827 acres of land at its North Severn site, including Greenbury Point, NSA Annapolis offices and a current Naval Academy golf course.

Because Greenbury is owned by the Navy, the agency sometimes shuts the park down when trainees practice at the firing range onsite. Residents are accustomed to this but are free to use the park when the Navy otherwise is not using it.

But advocates say that relationship has deteriorated in recent months, with residents left in the dark with few details on the proposal.

Public meetings have been scheduled and canceled, and official information on the golf course is unavailable. That has concerned Jesse Iliff, the executive director of the Severn River Association, who said NAGA may try to avoid public input and proceed without it.

“The folks who are advocating for this proposal can’t be so obtuse as to think that they can just swoop in and do some smooth talking and convince everybody that it’s a good idea,” Iliff said. “I think they understand that this is an unpopular idea with most people, and that therefore they’re going to quietly try to advance their own interests.”

A February letter from Gladchuk to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, in which he asked for the secretary’s approval on the golf course development and said he had conceptual plans to share, was obtained via Freedom of Information Requests from local outlets, including the Annapolis Capitol Gazette. That letter prompted outrage in the community and accusations NAGA and the Naval Academy are hiding development plans.

The latest update came via a June letter, shared with The Hill, from Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the superintendent of the academy, to Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), who has expressed concern about the plan.

Buck told Sarbanes he received a proposal from NAGA to lease land at Greenbury Point and that NSA Annapolis is currently reviewing the proposal.

According to Buck, the proposal will move up the chain of command to the assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment for a final decision. There is no clear timeline for the process.

Buck wrote the review will consider questions and concerns from Annapolis residents.

“I believe that sustaining the Navy mission depends on responsible use of the land, water and resources with which we are entrusted,” Buck wrote. “In order to continue being good stewards of the environment, if the proposal is approved, the Navy will follow policies of the National Environmental Policy Act.”

That law, enacted in 1970, requires all federal agencies to assess the impact of decisions and proposed actions on the environment prior to making them.

The law extends to the Department of Defense, which owns 8.8 million acres across the U.S. The Pentagon is also beholden to the Sikes Act, which requires the conservation and rehabilitation of natural resources on military installations while allowing for necessary military operations.

An 18-hole golf course would almost entirely replace the conservation area, which lies in a critical area around the Chesapeake Bay and consists of wetlands and other important natural resources.

An environmental impact study would need to be conducted to assess what the impact of a golf course would be on the area. State permits would also normally be required for development in the area. While the Navy could override state and local agencies, the federal government is typically committed to working with local officials.

Dunn, the CEO and president of the Chesapeake Conservancy, said the Severn River already has a D-plus environmental grade and another 18-hole golf course would include more substances running off into the Chesapeake Bay tributary.

“It’s hard for me to see how an environmental impact study wouldn’t clearly show negative impacts,” he said.

Lawmakers enter the fray

As rumors spread about the golf course proposal over the spring, it reached congressional lawmakers, who have now raised direct and public concerns about the idea.

In a public statement shared with The Hill, Sarbanes, whose district includes Annapolis, said he has “deep reservations about any proposal to convert this forested land to a golf course and limit public access to such an important natural recreation area.”

“I will continue to monitor this situation closely and take every opportunity to communicate to the Navy my own concerns and those of my constituents and area environmental groups,” Sarbanes said.

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, wrote in a letter to The Washington Post this month that the Navy and its facilities are “so vulnerable to the effects of sea-level rise and climate change that in the coming years billions of dollars of taxpayer funds will be required to ensure resilience.”

“The Navy is facing enormous challenges that require its full attention, from a lack of capacity at our shipyards to serious threats from adversaries in the Pacific region and soon the Arctic,” she wrote. “So, reading that the Naval Academy is planning for a new golf course at Greenbury Point is an absurdity. On any priority scale this should be rated a zero, and not a single taxpayer dollar should be spent to advance this bad idea.”

Environmental organizations say lobbying Congress to create a permanent easement is their best shot at halting the plan. They have also raised concerns to Maryland’s senators, Democrats Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin. The Hill has reached out to the senators for comment.

Annapolis citizens and groups say NAGA’s second golf course would likely benefit only an elite few, noting the 18-hole course the academy currently runs can include annual membership fees as high as $3,500.

A June poll requested from the Chesapeake Conservancy and Severn River Association found 67 percent of Marylanders were opposed to a second golf course on Greenbury Point, while 75 percent of residents of Anne Arundel County, which includes Annapolis, were opposed to the idea.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D) wrote a letter to NSA Annapolis on Wednesday proposing the county’s Department of Recreation and Parks manage Greenbury Point over a long-term lease.

“The recent proposal by the Naval Academy Athletic Association and Naval Academy Golf Association to develop a new 18-hole golf course at Greenbury Point in Annapolis has generated concern and alarm among many Anne Arundel County residents who prefer the historic property to remain a conservation area,” Pittman wrote. “I understand and share their concern, as Greenbury Point is a site that is beloved by the community for its passive nature, rich history and extraordinary views of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay.”

The Navy secretary’s office, Naval Academy and NSA Annapolis did not return The Hill’s requests for comment on this piece.

‘ The misperception is that this concept is just about a golf course’

When asked about the pressure he was facing, Gladchuk said a golf course could take up less than a 270-acre piece on the NSA Annapolis-owned open land.

The Naval Academy athletic director said interested parties should come together to “enhance” the idea rather than simply oppose it.

“In the end, if the vision became reality, it could possibly accommodate thousands more visitors and friends in the community than is the case today,” Gladchuk told The Hill. “The misperception is that this concept is just about a golf course. There is a much broader opportunity if interested parties would come together and talk about enhancing the current situation.”

He also said NAGA has not avoided public disclosures, insisting he has nothing to tell residents yet because the proposal is simply under review.

The Navy purchased Greenbury Point in 1909 for use as an airfield, according to The Washington Post. The military branch constructed radio towers after the First World War and operated them until 1993, when the technology was becoming obsolete. Most of the towers have come down, but three of them remain and can be seen from the Severn River and are often used as a visual landmark.

When the other towers came down, the Navy was looking for ways to use the land. In 1998, the Severn River Association and other advocates successfully lobbied Congress to create a conservation area at Greenbury Point with limited public access.

The river association’s Iliff said the long history of Greenbury Point shows its importance to local residents and any plan to redevelop the area for a golf course would run counter to the Biden administration’s America the Beautiful plan, which aims to preserve the county’s natural resources.

“This is bad for the Chesapeake Bay, which president after president has declared a national treasure,” he said, “and it should be stopped.”

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