State Newspaper Article On River Access

Riverbanks begins work on fence that cuts off revelers to river
By JOEY HOLLEMAN - jholleman@thestate.com
  Frustrated by drunken revelers using its parking lot, Riverbanks Zoo and Garden next week will begin work on a fence that will cut off easy public access through that lot to a popular section of the Saluda River.
“This is absolutely the extreme last option,” said Satch Krantz, Riverbanks’ executive director. “This doesn’t make us happy to do this, but everything we have tried to do to control the foolishness in our parking lot has failed.”
One evening last week, Krantz said, he had to break up a parking lot fight when he was leaving work. “Two women were slugging it out in bikinis behind my pickup truck because one of them had lost their car keys,” he said.
 The new chainlink fence will connect to the zoo’s current perimeter fence just west of where it runs under the pedestrian walkway over the river. The fence will enclose the picnic area – cutting off that area from the river – and then run around the west end of the zoo’s parking lot.
Kayakers, anglers and people who simply want to hang out on the river rocks have parked in that area for decades and followed dirt paths to the water. While the fence will have a gate near those paths, it will be locked and opened only for commercial outfitters who contract with the zoo and for emergency personnel. Adventure Carolina, Palmetto Outdoors and Get Your Gear On currently have contracts allowing access in return for a $3 per person payment to the zoo.
The revenue from outfitters doesn’t cover even one-fifth of the additional cost of security upgrades in the parking lot in recent years, Krantz said.
On most weekends and holidays, the east end of the parking lot will be open, allowing access to another popular section of the river just downstream of the zoo. Upstream of the zoo, many people now park (often illegally) along Candi Lane west of the zoo and walk (illegally across railroad tracks with no pedestrian crossings) to the river.
But more people have accessed the river through the west end of the zoo parking lot than any other place in recent years. After this weekend, they’ll be shut out.
“It’s disappointing,” said Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler, whose organization deals with water quality and access issues on the Congaree, Saluda and Broad rivers in the region. “We’ve tried again and again to work with the zoo on alternatives, but the zoo has decided rather than to build relationships they want to build fences.”
The next legal public access point upstream from the zoo, commonly called Gardendale Landing, is about three miles upstream off Bush River Road. It’s a long trip downstream from Gardendale, five or six miles, to the next public takeout point at the Gervais Street bridge.
One major plus of the zoo access is that it allows kayakers or tubers to get in the river below the dangerous Millrace Rapids. Stangler is worried about the safety of people who now will decide to get on the river upstream of Millrace.
The problems in the zoo parking lot have been escalating in recent years, Krantz said. The crowd that hangs out on the large rocks along the river has gone from mostly laidback a decade ago to dangerously drunk and violent recently. At the same time, the number of tubers on the river and walking through the parking lot has exploded, and the attendance at the zoo has jumped to an annual average of above 1 million.
“Over the course of the past few years, what we call revelers have basically run off kayakers and fishermen,” Krantz said.
Video surveillance cameras installed in the parking lot last year cut down on auto break-ins but had little impact on general rowdiness. Krantz said a video last week from one of the cameras showed a motorcycle driven through the parking lot at high speeds barely missing a zoo employee.
Columbia police come out to the zoo parking lot often, but they haven’t had enough of a presence in the area to discourage revelers, Krantz said.
Krantz and Stangler agree that the long-range answer to the access problem is the long-delayed construction of the Three Rivers Greenway section around the zoo. Funds for that section were added to Richland County’s penny sales tax proposal during final negotiations this month on the tax. The greenway would include parking areas and a paved walkway, which will run between the zoo’s current perimeter fence and the river. Those amenities have made it easier for police to patrol river areas along greenway sections already built in Columbia, West Columbia and Cayce.
Even if the tax increase is approved by voters, building the greenway will take several years, Stangler said. In the meantime, people who want to get on the river west of the zoo will face major challenges.
Map: New fencing planned for Riverbanks Zoo
New fencing announced Wednesday by Riverbanks Zoo and Garden will restrict access to the west parking and picnic area from the Saluda River. This map shows the rough pathway of the new fencing (blue line) and the location of the picnic area (blue marker).

Article About Saluda River Access via the Riverbanks Zoo

Please, read and comment!


New fence in zoo's parking lot will limit access to river

Submitted by Tenessa Jennings, Community Web Producer

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012, 10:43am

       

Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is taking additional steps to increase security and improve the guest experience by erecting a new fence along the perimeter of the west-end of the Zoo parking lot – closest to the lower Saluda River.
Riverbanks Zoo has seen a record attendance trend of more than one million visitors annually during the last three years and just recently announced an all-time attendance high of 1,029,492 guests during the 2011-2012 fiscal year. This record growth along with the ever-increasing number of non-Zoo visitors using the Zoo parking lot for river access has prompted Riverbanks to put additional safety and security measures in place.
“The safety of Riverbanks’ guests and employees is our number one priority,” said Satch Krantz, president and CEO of Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. “Over the past four years, tens of thousands of people have been using the Zoo parking lot solely to access the Saluda River. The vast majority of these people are law abiding citizens but there is a certain element that creates almost daily problems for the Zoo’s public safety staff. ”
Additionally, the ever-increasing number of river users has forced the Zoo to turn guests away during peak times. During the Zoo’s busy 2012 Spring Break season in April and May the Columbia Police Department was forced to close the Greystone Boulevard exit due to heavy traffic.
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is South Carolina’s number one tourist attraction. In a recent study commissioned by Riverbanks, the University of South Carolina College of Hospitality, Retail and Sports Management revealed the Zoo’s annual economic impact on the local economies of Richland and Lexington Counties. The results of that study underscore the fact that Riverbanks is a powerful economic driver within the local economy—generating more than $60 million in local business sales and creating more than 700 jobs in the community.
“Not taking appropriate action would put the Zoo’s status as South Carolina’s premier attraction in jeopardy,” Krantz said.
Riverbanks encourages use and enjoyment of the Saluda River at those areas designed to accommodate access such as Saluda Shoals Park. Work to erect the new fence is scheduled to begin at the end of the month. Once completed, the fence will attach to the already existing portion located at the east-end of the parking lot – encompassing the entire parking area. Riverbanks also recently added an electronic gate at the entrance to the Zoo parking lot as well as a locked gate at its Rivermont parking area for increased security.

Post Party Aftermath!

Ohhhh Folkz! What a PARTY!!! Get Your Gear On Thanks Everyone for Bringing It On, Saturday night! Fantastic Turn Out! Special Thanks to Regan Norris for the Cat Fish Fry, slaw, and everything else he contributed...Michael for just being ama...zingly helpful, Elizabeth for picking up the Keg (she's strong like that)...Squirrel for the "outdoor" movie theater seating...Larry, BJ, Richie, and Walking Eagle just for being their awesome selves... to all our old friends for reminding us just how wonderful and generous this community really is and to all our new friends for joining in and keeping this whole thing going!... The shop is almost cleaned up and We've been lucky enough to have put three trips on the river so far today!... The party really didn't wind down until the weeeee hours of the morning............"Screaming RIGHT Turn".........."So, ummm, what's in the Salsa anyway?"............"So, Is This 256-togo?"........."We're Going to the Barge!"........"Do Catfish Always Land On Their Feet?"...........and "Dude, I Don't think That Bucket's Gonna Hold That!"........plus, so much more!!!
Here's a photo from earlier that morning, after fishing the night before. Guess who this might be and the circumstance of the photo! No other photos were taken, To Protect the Innocent!

Politicz...Again?! GreenWay...

Politicz, again?! Well, Richland County has agreed to put the Penney Tax back on the ballot this Fall...Primarily for Transportation, Roads, etc. However, a small portion is Pre-Legislated for Trails!!! This extension is for the same trail system that you enjoy at River Front Park or Canal Walk... except AT THE WEST END OF THE ZOO BY MILLRACE RAPID (The Rocks). This is good for the local economy, by continuing to promote responsible river usage and tourism dollars$$$. This would also allow greater Police monitoring of that area... and unfortunately THIS IS NEEDED! It realy is a good thing, because more people use that section of the Saluda River than any other public waterway (outside of the coast) in the state...It truly is a beautiful area..and it needs Public Support... more on this topic later!!!
EDUCATE YOURSELF!!! READ!!! THINK ABOUT IT!!! Whatever your decision, PLEASE<VOTE>!!! let us know what you think, here...
here's the artical in The State:
http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/19/2359790/richland-oks-penny-tax-vote.html

More Photo entries!!

This is Rick boof'n Soc Em' Dog on section 4 of the Chattooga... He's sporting a Get Your Gear On t-shirt and some Cottonmouth nose plugs from the shop as well...Nice photo Rick!

Everyone has his own way of transporting his kayak. Dustin's Jackson 4Fun (GYGO) rides shotgun.

sanitary sewage... seriously!???!!!

Ok, over the years I have experienced the effect, been affected, and infected by this issue, as I feel certain many of you have as well...

This most recent Rain event, July 10th...produced 2 inches within the first half/hour, then it slowed and continued to rain for several more hours. We need this rain, we've needed it for a long time, and we need more. However, why doesn't the city and it's industry have the capacity to deal with flooding when it happens? This has been a local topic of conversation for years... I'm interested to listen (read) any response that can validate the City of Columbia's action plan... or in-action lack of a plan that deals with Sanitary Sewage releases, Over Flow, Point and Non-point effluent and anything else (chemical or non-chemical) that is messing with our water, rivers, health, etc.

I'm on the verge of ranting here, so I'm asking if anyone can offer some perspective that might sway my opinion (which is very low, at the moment) of decades of City Planning. I do read the news, I have seen the plants shut down and release into our waterways, I have seen the public shake their fingers, I have seen the appologies, and I have read the excuses... I have not ever seen, heard, or read of an actual fine having taken place... And the Feds we're involved a couple of years ago....

Quoting Marvin Gay, "What's Going On?!" ...cause i feel like i'm getting (I was told not to use my own explitive) run around in a very un-pleasureable way! seriously, respond with ideas, concepts, empathy, sympathy,... or just tell me to stop whining!

James has been a super friend of the store this year! He's picked up skirts, paddling equipment, a hat, kayaking lessons, etc. and has been fantastically patient whenever we have needed to special order items for him...These are great photos caracterizing the Saluda late in the afternoon!

Melanie sent us this photo of what She sees When Gettin' Her Gear On in Lake Murray on a GYGO Guided Lake Murray Sunset Paddle...available weekends, all summer long!

another photo sumission

Ejoying the Chilly Froth from the Mill Race Massacre a couple of years ago... Phil is demonstrating how to NOT use the Smiley Nose Plugs, purchased from GYGO....I remember well, announcing this wild ride ya took Phil... All's well that Ends well! And for what it's worth, It Was Cold That Day...you definately won a lot of hearts, as well as the Carnage Award! ...one that I was the proud winner of a few years earlier.

This is Cassidy Getting Her Gear on! She's a Bad Mamma Jamma! Corsica Overflow and H2O Paddle from Get Your Gear On.

Scarby getting his 4th of July steak on! Chilly PBR protected by a GYGO Coozie.

Here is a photo of myself (Moffit Prescott) and Bo Wallace at the put in for the Lava Falls section of the Deschutes river.

Photo Contest submission

Howdy Folkz! This is our first customer entry...
Daniel Neikirk boof a rock below Double Suck on the Ocoee, Tn.!
Dagger Crossfire / from Get Your Gear On

Thanks, Daniel!

yeah, we're working on transfering images with sharper resolution...