CAMBRIDGE — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is continuing to determine the best place for a new fishing pier on the Choptank River between Talbot and Dorchester counties since the 2021 closure of the Bill Burton Fishing Pier.
Gregg Bortz, media relations manager for DNR, said in an email that the department is working with both counties, as well as the City of Cambridge, to find “the best option for access” to the Choptank. He said the department is considering a few sites that are “in the general vicinity of the current pier.”
Bortz said after this process is complete, DNR plans to move forward with creating that access.
In late December 2021, the fishing pier was closed due to structural safety concerns. A February 2022 underwater inspection revealed crumbling concrete in multiple areas of the structure below the water's surface.
Although Joe Brooks — who lives a few houses down the road from the Dorchester County side of the fishing pier, on Radiance Drive — was sad to see the fishing pier close, he was happy that it would put an end to the trash in his front yard and illegal parking on the street.
“It was just out of control for many years,” he said. “Everyday you get up and walk and pick up trash out in the front yard. ... And it’s all kinds of trash.”
Brooks helped petition the City of Cambridge to get no parking signs put up on the street, but he said there were people who parked there anyway.
“There’s not adequate parking for a fishing pier there,” Brooks said about where pier's former location. “I mean, there’s a very small parking lot for the use of the pier.”
As DNR looks for the best spot for a new fishing pier, Brooks thinks it should go somewhere other than where it currently is. He said the Talbot County side of the river has many acres of land with ample space for parking. Brooks said if the fishing pier must go on the Dorchester County side, the county Visitor Center is on the other side of U.S. Route 50, and would make more sense as the pier’s location.
“It’s not trying to fit a square peg in a round hole,” he said.
Parking and accessibility are primary concerns for DNR when it comes to deciding on a location for a new pier, Bortz said.
Brooks said he doesn’t know anyone else in the neighborhood who wants a new fishing pier to be built in its current location.
“Pretty well everyone in my area had issues with parking and sometimes (dis)respectful people on the pier,” he said.
American Legion Post 91 Commander-elect and former Maryland Sen. Rich Colburn said he estimates there is room for 12 cars in the parking lot for the closed fishing pier. He said a new fishing pier on the other side of Route 50 or on the Talbot County side would have more room for parking.
The American Legion Post, which is directly across the street from the closed fishing pier on Radiance Drive, has been interested in leasing the fishing pier parking lot from DNR since the pier closed. In a May 24 letter, DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz told Colburn in response to the reuqest that DNR was unable to lease the parking area at that time.
Bortz said the lot is not for sale because it could be part of the department’s plans for future park access. Colburn said he understands DNR will need the parking lot when it demolishes the current pier, but until that happens, he believes DNR could easily lease the lot to the American Legion.
Mid-Shore Fishing Club President Tom Wilkison thinks the closed pier should be replaced with a new one in the same location.
“Because the community needs it,” he said. “There are so many people that used to use that pier, especially from the Cambridge side.”
Wilkison, who has never fished off the pier but has walked on it, said the current location of the pier is accessible. He acknowledged it could use a little more parking on the Dorchester side.
“I just hope that the state puts something back there,” he said.
Brooks said when DNR does construct a new fishing pier, it’s important that it also maintains and polices the pier.
“That’s the best way to keep people — in my mind — respectful, is have a respected place and have a presence of people to enforce that,” he said.
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