Few Bad Apples Are At It Again

Sat., May 2, 1998

D.F. Oliveria For The Editorial

Imagine how you’d feel if strangers regularly parked in your driveway or partied on your front lawn with their boom boxes blaring.

You wouldn’t like it. And you’d like it even less if they allowed their dogs to relieve themselves on your property or littered it with dirty diapers, empty pop cans or fast food wrappers.

You’d probably call the police.

Larry Panattoni called Kootenai County officials when boaters and fishermen ignored the posted rules that govern his part of the Hauser Lake shoreline. Then, he had to deal with protesters who tore up the county signs, dumped trash on his private shoreline and cut a cable that blocked after-hours access to the launch site and county dock on his property.

As a result, Panattoni exercised his contractual right last fall to close the public facilities on his land. Now, it’s likely the site won’t reopen unless the county can guarantee Panattoni that his water frontage will be protected - and respected.

It would be nice if something could be worked out with Panattoni to keep the popular boat launch open. But The Spokesman-Review won’t blame him if he orders the county and public off his land for good.

Generally, this paper encourages government to fight for every square foot of public access to the region’s impressive waterways. That’s been our stand in particular in Kootenai County, from Sanders Beach to Cougar Bay, from Hayden Lake to Hauser Lake. However, a small but growing number of aggressive despoilers are making it increasingly difficult to defend that position.

“Most of the folks are fine,” said Panattoni, “but there’s enough that cause a problem that I just won’t put up with it any more.”

If the public wants to continue to use privately owned places like Sanders Beach on Lake Coeur d’Alene or Panattoni’s launch site, people must take steps not to wear out their welcome. Regular users, for example, should form work parties to clean litter, dog manure and graffiti from those areas. They also should confront and report jerks who abuse public or private property.

Funds that could have been used to police Panattoni’s land have been diverted to repair toilets and picnic areas destroyed by vandals at other county parks and beaches. The hooliganism has made a public waterfront obnoxious to neighbors and ruined recreational fun for the many who do behave themselves.

The day is near when public access to our waterways may be carefully controlled. And we’ll be poorer for it when it arrives.

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