State says new float homes legal

BAYVIEW – Despite a state moratorium on new float houses, two could be built on Lake Pend Oreille and moored in marinas belonging to Bayview developer Bob Holland.

While a group of Holland’s critics are crying foul, state officials say – though they’ve seen nothing like it – it’s perfectly legal.

The moratorium prohibits new float homes, but state law allows rebuilding float homes as long as the existing footprint is used, said Jim Brady, senior resource specialist for the Idaho Department of Lands. That “footprint” can be moved from one Idaho lake to another.

Keith Shannon of Harrison Dock Builders bought two float homes from Lake Coeur d’Alene’s O’Gara Bay and the footprints from those homes are being used to build two new homes on the water in Bayview.

The members of Bayview’s grass-roots Development Analysis Committee – which keeps tabs on Holland’s every move – believe Holland and his associates are buying up fishing shacks for cheap and moving their footprints to Lake Coeur d’Alene.

“We’re going to get loaded up with float homes that were float homes in the first place,” said Dennis Damon, a member of the committee, which was formed under Bayview’s Chamber of Commerce.

But Dennis Scott, development manager for Holland’s Waterford Park Homes, said Shannon purchased the homes off Coeur d’Alene Lake. Though one footprint has been sold to Holland and the other – on which Shannon hopes to build a two-story home – could be purchased by Holland as well, Scott said it “wasn’t Bob Holland that moved those things from lake to another.”

“You could probably look at a lot of float homes around this lake now that used to be fishing shacks,” Scott added.

Shannon said he was limited on places where he could move the float homes he purchased. To secure a permit for moorage, sewer service must be available.

“That eliminates a lot of places to have them,” said Shannon, who lives in a float home in Harrison on Lake Coeur d’Alene. He has another float home he has purchased and is currently storing – he’d like to find a place on Lake Coeur d’Alene and not have to move that one to Bayview, as well, he said.

He’s a proponent of additional float home communities, places where existing float homes and rebuilt float homes can be moored. Shannon sees it as a way to encourage some healthy competition and keep float home leases from getting too expensive.

Many who moor float homes in Holland’s Bayview marinas complained when he increased their rent.

Shannon has lobbied for a float home community in Harrison and connecting to the city’s water and sewer. There are about 30 float homes on Lake Coeur d’Alene that aren’t connected to sewer. The two he’s moving to Bayview had port-a-potties inside.

The Harrison man said the work he’s doing is about preserving a piece of Idaho’s heritage – living on the lake. Anyone who has questions is welcome to call him, he said.

Brady said the Department of Lands has no problems with “moving” float homes from one lake to another.

“The numbers are still the same,” he said.

The Department of Lands and the Development Analysis Committee both have concerns, though, about Water Lodges that are being marketed by The Elephant Boys, a Spokane Valley business. Waterford recently had one moored in Bayview.

The 12-by-36-foot floating lodges look similar to a float home, but have been certified by the Coast Guard as vessels. Vessels aren’t regulated by the Department of Lands.

“The only one I’ve seen is the one Holland had,” Brady said. “They’re trying to compare those to like a 65-foot houseboat.”

Brady said there are some major differences between the floating lodges and houseboats.

Houseboats have a hull and typically at least one 200 horsepower motor, Brady said.

On the floating lodges, motors are an optional accessory. It costs $4,500 for a nine-horsepower motor, he said.

That’s powerful enough to motor a small boat and Brady said using an engine that small on a floating lodge is a safety concern. Holland’s floating lodge did not have a motor mounted when it was moored at his marina in Bayview.

Bayview Chamber of Commerce President Jim MacDonald said in a June 26 letter to George Bacon, director of the Idaho Department of Lands, that he believes Water Lodges “are an attempt to circumvent” the moratorium on new float homes.

Waterford’s Scott said Holland removed his Water Lodge from the lake after the Department of Lands raised concerns, but once the issue is settled, Waterford could bring more floating lodges onto the lake.

Scott said he doesn’t see a difference between moorage of a Water Lodge and people with a big houseboat who park it in a boat slip and never leave the marina.

The developer is seeking approval to add 100 more feet of docks so he’ll have room for more float homes. Though the Development Analysis Committee doesn’t believe the extended docks will allow enough room for boats to safely negotiate in the crowded Bayview harbor, the Idaho Department of Lands said no objections have been made.

Kootenai County, which maintains a public boat launch between two of Waterford’s Bayview marinas, does not oppose the expansion, Brady said.

Damon and others on the Development Analysis Committee are concerned about whether the existing sewer and water system serving Bayview float homes can handle any more connections. They fear the system will fail, and the lake will be polluted.

Scott said Waterford is planning upgrades to the float home sewer connections so each float home will have its own sewer line running to shore – currently there are multiple float homes connected to each line. Those lines go to an underwater manifold and the waste is pumped to shore through a single line.