Marina rule changes criticized

The folks in Bayview weren’t shy at all when the Idaho Department of Lands asked for public comment on proposed rules for Idaho’s marinas and docks.

Of the two dozen people who showed up first thing Wednesday for a public hearing at the agency’s Coeur d’Alene office, most came from the small community on the south end of Lake Pend Oreille.

Bayview residents have been sharply divided by rapid development in the community and the changing face of the waterfront. Their views on the proposed rule changes are just as divergent.

On Wednesday several criticized the proposed rule changes – which include raising fees and privatizing marinas – as being rushed, unclear and even unneeded.

Jim McDonald has owned a marina in Bayview for 56 years, and he’s not happy with the state’s idea of privatizing marinas or allowing marina owners to “sell” boat slips.

“The public is being excluded from the very thing you people are supposed to protect, and that’s access to the lake for the public,” McDonald said. “We have less access and more people all the time.”

John Condon, of North Idaho Maritime, was one of the minority at the public hearing supporting privatization. He said the state leases should be for more than the current 10 years, though.

The cost of developing marinas is excessive, and more people would be willing to commit to development and improvements if the leases were for up to 30 years, Condon said.

McDonald and others at Wednesday’s hearing were critical of having additional rules and questioned whether the state had the staff and money for enforcement.

Float home owner Jere Mossier said the existing regulations are enough and opposes proposed changes that would allow commercial marina owners to privatize up to half of the marina space leased from the state.

“I just can’t see why you’d want to create Pandora’s Box,” he said.

Bob Brooke, another float home owner, expressed concern over a proposed rule that would allow a maximum of one parking space on land for every two float homes.

“One parking space for two float home moorages seems impossible,” he said.

There were also questions about how the state would assess the value of submerged land leases and the concept of tying the value of the submerged land to the upland property.

Powell Shoemaker said the rules regarding value assessment need to be more specific.

“It’s important to remember some float homes are nothing more than a boat shed with a toilet and water,” Shoemaker said.

Thirteen people testified in the first hour and a half of the daylong hearing in Coeur d’Alene. Written comments will be accepted through Oct. 24.

The Department of Lands could make changes to the proposed rules before submitting a final draft to the Land Board in November.

The Legislature must give final approval to any rule changes.