Lake Five access has property owners worried

A proposal to establish a developed public access at Lake Five near Coram has encountered stiff resistance from lakefront homeowners concerned with several aspects of the plan.

Critics say a developed access could lead to boat and personal watercraft congestion, resulting in safety, litter and water-quality problems on the lake. Mostly, lakefront property owners want access to be limited in some fashion, said Shirley Bell, whose family has had a place on the lake for 40 years.

"When you get 10 boats on that lake, it's not a big lake, it's a small lake," Bell said, noting that lakefront residents currently have an agreement to drive their boats in a counterclockwise fashion on the lake for safety's sake.

Ward "Mick" Taleff, an attorney and lakefront resident, submitted lengthy comments in which he contends the state is pursuing a public access plan that disregards "reasonable use and safety issues."

Residents attending a March 8 open house wanted to know if the state can limit the number of boats and restrict personal watercraft. They had other questions that state officials didn't answer, and many left the meeting convinced state officials have no intention of changing their plans, Bell said.

Marty Watkins, the regional parks manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said some comments and suggestions will probably lead to adjustments in the state's plans.

As it stands, the state is proposing a day-use boat access area on 10 acres with parking for seven vehicles and trailers and 16 sites for vehicles. It would have a paved entrance road, a vault toilet, a boat ramp, signs and gates, and a concrete pad for a site "host" who would live at and manage the site.

The host would deter vandalism and prevent after-hours use, Watkins said. The site would be open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. through the summer, with adjusted winter hours. Having a developed access would prompt warden enforcement on the lake, the state's proposal says.

At the request of several individuals, Watkins said, the department's deadline for public comment on the proposal was recently extended from March 18 to April 2.

Bell said she and neighbors are concerned that limited parking alone will not control the number of watercraft on the lake, because of potential for parking along the entrance road. They are concerned about the hours of operation, saying that 11 p.m. is too late.

Some have questioned the need for a developed access, saying the public can already get on the lake.

Existing access is limited or primitive, Watkins said. The public currently reaches the lake by crossing a strip of railroad right-of-way that is closed to the public, over an undeveloped parcel of uncertain ownership, or by paying a fee at the Lake Five resort.

None of those options provides adequate public access, Watkins said, and as a result the state has identified the lake as a high priority for public access.

Taleff has raised several issues with the access proposal. He contends the 10-acre site is zoned for residential use and the state has sought no variance with the county.

He challenges the state's position that the lake has no public access, noting that Fish, Wildlife and Parks has planted fish in the lake in the past and department policies discourage stocking lakes without public access.

He also disputes the department's position that Lake Five is a "large" lake. Department officials have asserted that the lake is 235 acres, but a Lake Five resident recently mapped the lake at 160 acres using a computer mapping program.

"This is a significant factual error… which significantly alters any analysis of the impact of the proposed project on Lake Five," Taleff said.

The potential for improved access came with a 2003 cash donation from a woman who wanted to provide a fishing access in memory of her deceased son. That donation will be put in a trust that will provide a portion of annual maintenance at the fishing site.

The 10-acre parcel was donated to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Foundation by a family that had owned property on the lake for years.

Taleff contends the department is not pursuing the type of project that the woman, who died earlier this month, had intended as a memorial for her son. Taleff asserts that the donor "had inquired about a canoe and handicapped fishing access."

If that's what the department had pursued, "I don't believe there would have been any opposition," Taleff wrote.

Taleff said those who attended the open house on March 8 came away convinced that state officials had "already made the decision and the (public involvement process) is a mere formality."

"I believe FWP personnel targeted Lake Five because of some self-appointed egalitarian crusade by which they have taken it upon themselves to open Lake Five to the public based on a personal agenda that those who own property on the lake should not be the only ones with guaranteed access, even if the result is unfettered motorboat and jet ski activity, litter and pollution that will harm the lake," Taleff wrote in his comments.

Watkins said comments will be considered in developing a final environmental assessment and decision on the project. An administrative appeals period will follow, and if the project is approved, the access could be developed for summer 2006.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com