Galveston City Council votes to pave the way for Porretto Beach development

Porretto Beach located at 10th street and Seawall Boulevard the Gulf Coast's only private beach is now for sale because the owner has declared bankruptcy Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, in Galveston. Porretto Beach located at 10th street and Seawall Boulevard the Gulf Coast's only private beach is now for sale because the owner has declared bankruptcy Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, in Galveston. Photo: James Nielsen, Chronicle Photo: James Nielsen, Chronicle Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Galveston City Council votes to pave the way for Porretto Beach development 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Two decades of unrest over the fate of a slice of Texas coastline came one step closer to a resolution on Thursday as the Galveston City Council voted in favor of abandoning public easements and rights of way for Porretto Beach.

The 5-2 vote came after roughly two-dozen people submitted public comment, nearly unanimous in their opposition to granting the abandonments, citing environmental, developmental and beach access concerns.

"Personally I view this as an abandonment issue," said Mayor Jim Yarbrough, who voted in favor of the abandonment. "I don't view it as a land use issue or a zoning issue for a vanity property."

But Yarbrough cautioned that the trustee of the Porretto estate, Randy Williams, and his prospective buyers would now have to prove that they can afford to purchase the land from the city and that they would develop it in a conscientious way.

"This is just one step, we're gonna call their bluff probably," Yarbrough said. "We're gonna see if they can close, we're gonna see if they have the money, if they don't then we will have another set of issues to deal with."

The abandonments clear the way for a potential multi-use development on the beach that will include a combination of retail and residences and parking.

There was some hope among several of the public speakers in attendance that the Council would vote down the abandonments. One environmental group, Scenic Galveston, was hoping to put together a proposal to buy the 9.75-acre land and sell it back to the city.

"We're really kind of perplexed, even though we've come late to this dance, why there's the sense of urgency to abandon these things now," said Lalise Mason, the vice chairwoman of Scenic Galveston.

But Councilman Frank Maceo was among those on the Council convinced that the fate of the Poretto estate had dragged on long enough. Maceo noted his deep familiarity with the land, having worked his first job selling umbrellas on Porretto Beach, and called the undeveloped land a "black eye" for Galveston.

"Porretto Beach ain't nothing to write home about in its condition right now," Maceo said. "The way I look at it, anything will be better than what it is now. I won't be part of a system that mucks up another deal and continues to drag this situation out."

Porretto Beach, which runs from 6th to 10th street along Galveston's coastline, is one of the rare sections of the Texas coastline that is privately owned, held by the Porretto family since the 1950s, before Sonya Porretto, the current owner filed bankruptcy in 2009. The land has been the subject of a lengthy dispute between its owners and the Texas General Land Office, which governs the public access of state beaches.

The Texas Supreme Court in 2012 upheld a ruling that a complicated formula based on high-tide levels should determine the boundary between the public "wet beach" and potentially private "dry beach." In 2015, the court ruled that the General Land Office did not own the beach, opening it up to buyers.

The City Council vote in favor of the abandonments means the Galveston city manager will now select an appraiser to determine the land's value before the buyers enter negotiations with the city for purchasing the land.

Nick Powell covers Galveston for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.com