Beachgoers Resent Bowing To Queen Some Residents Say Riverboat Shouldn’t Be Using Public Dock

Some sunbathers who frequent the county docks at Boothes Landing half-seriously threaten to charge people to park at the boat launch.

After all, they say, the captain of the Spokane Riverboat Queen is using the public docks there to load and unload customers.

“If he can use the launch to make money, well so can we,” said an angry Debbie Philp, who brings her children to swim at Boothes Landing.

Tensions have been high this summer at the recreation site on the northeast shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene as swimmers, boaters, fishermen and, now, cruise customers crowd into one small space.

The Spokane Riverboat Queen, which holds about 50 passengers, used to moor on the Spokane River at Templin’s Resort or at the Post Falls city dock.

In the winter, the cruise boat has offered eagle-watching cruises on Lake Coeur d’Alene from Boothes Landing.

Captain Dennis Walton decided to stay at Boothes this summer because spring runoff closed the Post Falls city dock for several weeks.

That means his boat and customers compete with summer crowds at the small boat launch and docks.

Walton leases moorage from Greg Delavan, who owns the neighboring marina and also oversees the county Waterways Department.

Yet Walton typically loads and unloads customers at the county dock.

“It’s an easier dock to load on,” Walton explained. “I’m entitled legally to use this dock. I’m here maybe 15 or 20 minutes.”

Angry beachcombers say the boat often lingers longer, hogging dock space. Kids hanging out on the dock are told to get out of the way for customers, Philp said.

“He’ll bring the boat over and leave it running, and it’ll be parked there for sometimes an hour,” she said.

“We’re mad,” added Linda Lane, another resident. “I’ve lived up here for over 21 years now. We’ve been going to Boothes beach for that long. We’ve never had this problem before.”

One of the biggest complaints is that cruise customers are parking in the boat launch parking area, even though Delavan cleared a parking area on his property for the riverboat business. But the private lot is up a long hill from the docks.

“I can’t control where they park,” Walton said. “They’re all members of the general public, correct? Why not allow them to park in the general parking area?”

The congestion has gotten so bad that the waterways department is closing the launch Wednesday and Thursday this week to create a turn-around lane for boat trailers.

Delavan said that’s all that can be done to resolve the parking conflicts. He, too, defends Walton’s right to use county facilities.

“There are a number of people who pick up their guests there,” Delavan said. “He’s an easy target because he’s so visible, and he’s a commercial business.”

On Sunday, the Sheriff’s Department towed away six vehicles that were parked along the narrow access road. Half of them were cruise customers, according to Delavan.

“I’m getting complaints like crazy at Boothe Park,” said Sgt. Dan Soumas, of the Sheriff’s Department’s marine division.

“It’s all part of the problem of growth,” Soumas said. “The county doesn’t really have anything to cover it yet. No rules say he can’t come into that dock.”

County officials discussed the need for an ordinance regulating commercial use of county docks last year.

But the matter was dropped because of confusion over what constitutes “incidental” commercial use.

“Public use is first. Our intent is that there’s no commercial use of public docks,” said Sandy Emerson, the county waterways board chairman. “Incidental use is something we’ve discussed at length. It’s something we’ll allow as long as it doesn’t conflict with public use.”

As for Walton, he said he has few, if any, choices. The only commercial dock in the area is the city of Coeur d’Alene’s at Independence Point. The four spaces on that dock are tied up in four-year, renewable leases. One of the businesses is a cruise ship belonging to the fleet operated through Hagadone Hospitality.

“Anyone who wants to have a business on the lake is going to have to go into the hinterlands,” Walton said.

“I’m dying out here,” he said, spreading his arms to take in the handful of customers on his boat. “I’m frustrated. (Businessman Duane) Hagadone already has a place. He’s stifled the competition, and the City Council is in cahoots.”

Walton’s misfortune may simply be that he didn’t get there first. Ten years ago, the city had a hard time filling the space on its commercial dock, said Doug Eastwood, Coeur d’Alene City parks director.

Now enough businesses are clamoring for space on the lake that the city could probably fill a second dock, but doesn’t want to build it.

The city has a state permit for a dock at Harborview Center on the Spokane River. The city applied for the permit when Capt. Fred Finney, of Hagadone’s cruise line, considered going into business for himself.

Though Finney changed his mind, the city recently got a year’s extension on its permit for the dock, Eastwood said.

“It could be done if someone was willing to do the work up front,” he said. “They would probably be required to put in the accommodations themselves.”

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