It’s time for Navy leadership to once and for all put an end to the discussion about another golf course on Greenbury Point in Annapolis. The environmentalists don’t want it, the community doesn’t want it, and the Navy, which already has a beautiful course, doesn’t need it.
Greenbury Point lies across the Severn River from the Naval Academy on a piece of property that the community enjoys. Families enjoy it for walking, running, fishing or simply enjoying the flora and fauna that punctuates Greenbury Point’s beauty.
Greenbury Point is one of the few places in Anne Arundel County that allows public access to the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay has almost 12,000 miles of shoreline, and only 2 percent is publicly accessible.
A feasibility study to examine building a second golf course at Greenbury Point has many citizens concerned. Hopefully, a feasibility study will look at public sentiment. Since 1845, the Navy has enjoyed an outstanding relationship with the community. Why would the Navy want to throw that relationship to the wayside and incur the wrath of the community?
Leadership has many principles, including “do the right thing.” The right thing for Navy leadership in this case is very clear: Direct those who continue to pursue another golf course to stop. It’s clearly the right thing to do. To do otherwise is running into shoal waters with the community.
Let’s focus on designing and building more badly needed ships — not golf courses.
The writer retired as a rear admiral from the U.S. Navy.
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