Indiana ferry plan won't float

The Kentucky Community Reporter gives us some insight on why the plans for a ferry from Rising Sun, Ind., to Belleview have been scuttled.

The Boone County Planning Commission was scheduled to vote on the project May 16 but instead the application for a zoning change and a conditional use permit were withdrawn.

"We just didn't feel it was going to go through, so we just went ahead and withdrew it for now and we'll re-approach it again here sometime in the future," said Gary Brett, chairman of the Rising Sun/Ohio County Port Authority.

The planning commission's Zone Change Committee voted 4-0 on two separate motions May 3 to deny the zone change and the conditional use permit.

Committee members, like residents opposed to the project, expressed concern about such issues as the ferry being compatible to the rural area and traffic.

In Boone County, the ferry would have operated on a 4.32-acre site between McVille Road (Ky. 18) and the Ohio River. The property is north of 7575 McVille Road. The port authority was seeking to change the site's zoning from agricultural estate to recreation.

Proponents argued the ferry would have saved motorists time traveling from Rising Sun to Florence. But residents didn't want their rural community disturbed.

Former Boone County Commissioner Patrick Raverty, who lives in Belleview, said residents are extremely pleased that the application was withdrawn. He said the location "was an extremely poor site for a ferry."

"It was not well thought out," he said. "It happened to be the site that was most convenient for Rising Sun and Ohio County with little consideration for Kentucky residents."

Brett said the site is probably the best location anywhere close by for a ferry.

"So, we won't be changing that but we'll just look at, see how we can work with Boone County to make it a more successful venture for both," he said, later adding other sites won't be examined at this time.

Raverty said residents would vigorously oppose the ferry at the site or anywhere near it. He said any attempt by Rising Sun and Ohio County officials to do that "would be extremely cavalier."

For those of you who wondered: cav·a·lier means:
n.
1. A gallant or chivalrous man, especially one serving as escort to a woman of high social position; a gentleman.
2. A mounted soldier; a knight.
3. Cavalier A supporter of Charles I of England in his struggles against Parliament. Also called Royalist.
adj.
1. Showing arrogant or offhand disregard; dismissive: a cavalier attitude toward the suffering of others.
2. Carefree and nonchalant; jaunty.
3. Cavalier Of or relating to a group of 17th-century English poets associated with the court of Charles I.
[French, horseman, from Old Italian cavaliere, from Late Latin caballrius, from Latin caballus, horse.]
cava·lierly adv.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.