# Crystal Lake boat access fight goes to court



## Hamilton Reef

Fight brewing over access to lake
Property owners sue to block DNR Crystal Lake plan

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/jan/04launch.htm

By PATRICK SULLIVAN Record-Eagle staff writer 

BENZONIA - Ann Bourne believes an ugly divide is growing between people who live on Crystal Lake and those who don't, but want good, modern access to it.
"I hear terminology like, 'We want to keep the riffraff off the lake,'" Bourne said. "I never thought I'd see the day in northern Michigan - there's always been mutual respect."
Bourne and others who want to ensure public access to Crystal Lake held a meeting last week with Benzie County and township officials to talk about concerns over the delay of a boat launch proposed by the Department of Natural Resources.
Waterfront property owners formed a group called the Crystal Lake Property Rights Association and filed a lawsuit over the boat launch that challenged the Department of Environmental Quality's approval of a launch permit.
A hearing in the lawsuit is scheduled for February.
Robert Bishop, president of the property owners' association, said he doesn't oppose a public boat launch on Crystal Lake. He said he opposes the current location proposed by the DNR near Mollineaux Road.
Bishop said his group opposes the site because it crosses the Betsie Valley Trail and violates a settlement agreement between property owners and the state in a separate lawsuit over the trail.
Jim VanderMaas, a member of the Crystal Lake Access Rights Coalition, said he wants to make sure public officials understand the popular support for the launch, even if its fate is in the hands of the courts.
"We just want to make our county officials aware that there are a lot of people in favor of this site and if you're doing things to oppose this site, election day is around the corner," VanderMaas said.
The DNR first proposed a boat launch in 1996 but selected a site near the Crystal Lake overflow where, in 1873, loggers attempted to dredge a channel to take logs to Lake Michigan, an ill-fated engineering feat that drained the lake by around 20 feet.
Bourne said the site met near-universal opposition, and the DNR eventually settled on the Mollineaux Road location.
William Boik, DNR boating unit manager, said it's unlikely even if the state prevails in the lawsuit that a boat launch could be constructed in time for the 2006 boating season.
Boik said such fights over boat launches are not unheard of across the state.
"I wouldn't say it's common," he said. "I wouldn't say it's unique. It's happened before."


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## catch&release

Crystal Lake homeowners have been fighting this for a long time.

I hope the launch gets built. I used to spend a lot of weekends on Crystal and there would be no one boating on the lake because the couple of public accesses are so small.

I hope it gets built. There's no reason why a lake that big (I think it's the 4th or 5th largest in the State) shouldn't have decent public access


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## Burksee

Didn't they just update/enlarge the launch site on the south end in Beulah a few years back?

As far as the "home owners" go didn't they know this lake has had public access' on it for years or did they think this was something new?


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## Hamilton Reef

Same story different lake. 
This is just another lake access site where the local rich white class fights to violate the "Public Trust" public access rights and keep the working class and minority races from "thier" lake. Some of the local and statewide left-wing "anti fishing" enviromentalist are also backing the lakefront property owners to keep sport fishers from "their" undeveloped lake. Undeveloped for who?


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## Hamilton Reef

The elitist lefty-wing enviro extremist have been coming out in full force to fight all of you dirty evil ******* gas polluting fishing and speed boat crazies. I knew making Crystal Lake boat launch fight public would bring them out. There have been over a dozen hate emails to me. They don't like the fact I defend "public trust" on behalf of hunters and fishermen. I'll pass on a few examples. I will make one sure prediction that these people will use every dirty trick (deceive, deflect, lie, and borrow all the Republican tricks) and endless deep pockets of local rich Crystal Lake area money to fight the DNR, DEQ, MUCC, and all state outdoor sports organizations to keep the public out of "their" Crystal Lake.


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## Hamilton Reef

This email was from a female from Traverse Group of the Sierra Club


I happen to live about 5 miles from Crystal Lake and so I feel the need to jump in on this.
My husband and I have swam in Crystal ever since we can both remember. We've seen the degradation of the lake over the past 20 or so years and it's very sad indeed.
Crystal is a beloved place by us "locals". There are several spots on the lake that are fairly secluded (no, I won't tell you where they are...that would be like admitting my favorite Moral mushroom hunting spot!) and amazing spots to sit with a bottle of wine and watch the sunset...or take the kids and know they can swim without fear of being run over by speed boats or jet skis. Beulah beach is a favorite spot for families, with it's nice lake-side park and picnic tables. We have summer-time concerts in the park, and yes, a bunch of us locals gather every Fourth of July for our annual community pot-luck picnic. The development they are talking about would have devastating impacts on the lake, the people, the fish and the area. If you have ever even visited Crystal Lake on a summer day, you would see that there are already way too many boats on the lake. Crystal Lake is NOT that huge! We paddlers can hardly take canoes or kayaks out on the lake with fear of getting turned over by loud, huge speed boats racing around or jet skis flying across the lake at dangerous, outrageous speeds.
What Crystal Lake needs is an improvement to the boat launch that is already there. Regardless of what some people think, there are actually plenty of parking spaces for trucks and trailers just a block from the launch. And the bigger picture in all of this is how it would impact Benzie County (Beulah and Benzonia especially), a county seeing unregulated growth and sprawl. 
And I know I will get in big trouble for this, but here goes anyway.....for those of us who grew up in this area (like my husband and myself), or those who have lived here for many years, love the area and the waters, and have seen the impacts from the increasing numbers of downstaters and out of staters who come, use our lakes and parks, leave their trash and pollute our land and our water, it's getting pretty hard to take....and harder to feel like we should be fighting so hard to protect what we are so fortunate to live with year-round. I salute the residents of Benzie who are fighting to protect Crystal Lake. I'm standing with them.


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## Hamilton Reef

Friends,
I note the traffic on enviro-mich concerning a proposed boat launch on 
Crystal Lake. The Michigan Land Use Institute's Beulah office is located 
two blocks from the lakeshore. We've been following the developments around a proposed new boat access since 1998, when the Department of Natural Resources first made its plans public.

A good piece on the issue was published on our Web site nearly two years 
ago. The sidebar includes a proposal we and other organizations here made 
at that time to significantly down-size the boat access installation that 
the DNR wanted to build.

See it here: http://www.mlui.org/landwater/fullarticle.asp?fileid=16655

A number of organizations in this county, including elected officials, met 
consistently for months in 2003 and 2004 to develop a consensus around the 
proposed new access site. We thought a consensus had developed around a 
smaller site but Ann Bourne, representing Citizens For Positive Planning, 
sided with the then chair of the Benzie County Commission and some 
politically prominent boat owners and anglers.They asserted that the large 
site proposed by the state was necessary. Bourne and her supporters framed 
their argument around the view that lake front property owners were trying 
to keep regular folks off the lake. It was disappointing, to say the least, 
to watch Citizens For Positive Planning embrace that false and divisive 
strategy. In fact, the Crystal Lake Association and the Crystal Lake 
Watershed Fund, the two lake front property owner groups, actively and 
publicly supported the idea of a smaller access site and consistently made 
that view plain in their testimony at a public hearing early in 2004.

There are significant issues surrounding the site the DNR chose, including 
the fact that the boat ramp lies at the bottom of a high and steep bluff, 
and that boat owners would need to climb up and down many stories of stairs 
to get to and from their vehicles. In other words, the site was likely to 
be less easy to use than the current public boat ramp in Beulah. It was a 
widely shared view at the time that the vertical design of the site, the 
physical exertion that would be necessary to use the site, could be a 
nuisance/inconvenience/barrier to some boat owners.

There is an opportunity to revive what we are convinced is the entirely 
reasonable proposal to build a right-size boat launch. The former chair of 
the Benzie County commission, who was a champion of the large boat launch, 
lost his race for re-election. There are smart, reasonable, and 
environmentally-minded leaders on the county board and great resolve in the 
community to secure Crystal Lake and find a reasoned approach to enabling 
safe boat access.

Our lead on this project is Jim Lively and is reachable at 231-941-6584 
ext. 13 or [email protected]. Thanks so much, Keith Schneider, Michigan Land Use 
Institute.


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## Hamilton Reef

Keith Schneider noted:
There are significant issues surrounding the site the DNR chose, including the fact that the boat ramp lies at the bottom of a high and steep bluff, and that boat owners would need to climb up and down many stories of stairs to get to and from their vehicles. In other words, the site was likely to be less easy to use than the current public boat ramp in Beulah. It was a 
widely shared view at the time that the vertical design of the site, the physical exertion that would be necessary to use the site, could be a nuisance/inconvenience/barrier to some boat owners.

Sportsmen note:
Schneider's statement is another reason to establish 4-6 additional boat launches. The DNR on behalf state outdoor sportsmen had to take what ever launch site they could get to help make up for the tiny site in Beulah. Fishermen are used to using 4x4 drive if needed to launch a boat as no big deal. As future decent launch sites are established the public will pick the launch at the safest location closest to the current fishing spot. The DNR/DEQ/MUCC/tourist understand the local mind set of lake locals keeping the ******** and minorities out of their "rich ******" lakes. The local lake residents of Crystal Lake area would love to keep down-state residents at the back of the bus away from West Michigan, but the fact they built their own homes on the lakeshore to destroy the lakeshore shows what hypocrites they are. They preach the greenbelt hype, but their own homes destroyed the greenbelt of the lake. The public fishermen have the right to fish a public lake, enjoy the day with the kids, and take a healthy natural food home for a meal. The local snobs will get use to it.


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## catch&release

I have spent a half dozen Fourth of July weekends at a former inlaw's home on South Shore Drive on Crystal Lake, basically mid way between Beulah and Frankfort. I would be shocked that even on the 4th of July itself, there would be less than a handful of boats on the lake during the entire day. On a non holiday summer weekend, there often wouldn't be any boats.

The lake front owners believe it's their lake and only their lake. I saw a lot of crazy stuff, including owners yelling at jet skiers who were idling well off shore from their cottages. The most amazing thing that I saw was a cottage owner who ran down her dock banging pots and pans to scare away a mother merganser with chicks which was swimming by her beach.

The mergansers were here a long time before the cottages as the Betsie River and Betsie Bay were named after the mergansers seen in the area by French explorers. Apparently, the mergansers, like the non lake front owners, have no right to use the lake.

I would listen to the lakeshore cottage owners complain bitterly about ANY plan to build an improved public launch and I would hear first hand about the outcries raised by cottage owners at the public hearings. Those outcries were just as loud as their complaints about how high their property taxes are.

Poor, rich babies.

I don't think you can buy even a shack on Crystal for less than $500,000. 

The Lake is our resource. There should be more public access. A bunch of millionaires trying to keep Crystal to themselves is against the entire ethos that our country is based on equality, not on monarchial superiority. 

There should be more public access in fairness to the residents of our State.


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## Hamilton Reef

FYI the environmental extremist wackos of the town of Beulah and Crystal Lake have had their cohorts come out of the woodwork statewide to bombard my email (far too many to post here). They are now organizing statewide to keep the DNR, MUCC members, M-S.com members, and fishing tourist away from "their" Crystal Lake by any means possible. There are "WovenWomen Edie" types and others saying the Beulah boat launch is much too big for Crystal Lake and only a few "rowboats only" should be allowed their lake, blah, blah, and blah.......

It is time for state wide notice to go out to all outdoor sports and general tourist to not spend any dollars in Benzie County, but then those rich racist snobs of Crystal Lake area wouldn't care anyway.


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## PWood

Hamilton Reef said:


> This email was from a female from Traverse Group of the Sierra Club
> 
> ...those who have lived here for many years, love the area and the waters, and have seen the impacts from the increasing numbers of downstaters and out of staters who come, use *our* lakes and parks, leave their trash and pollute *our* land and *our* water, quote]
> 
> There's the mindset of those opposing the boat launch.
> Even though, by law, the lake is public waters held by the State for all citizens of Michigan, they believe they are better than the rest and should have sole use of the lake. In a word, B***S***.


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## snaggs

I say we....DRAIN THE WHOLE DAM LAKE....then nobody will need to dispute.....how many people.....how many boats......how steep the hills.....parking spaces....etc...etc...etc..."The real problem"......"""HUMANITY"""....."""OH THE HUMANITY""".....OF IT ALL...:help:


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## stinger63

If they dont want the public to use it then this lake should have been deemed private before any homes were built around it.Since it is not and these home owners want to deny public right away or use of the lake then if this lake is stocked from state or dnr funds stop and let them pay for it.Better than draining it if the public is denied access then someone should just go dump a few gallons of ronetone in the water.That would teach them about being stingy of the waters.:evil:


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## Hamilton Reef

Crystal Lake is listed as 9711-acres
http://www.fishweb.com/maps/benzie/crystal_lake/
What is the exact count of trailer parking at the tiny launch in Beulah?

Keep this as the Crystal Lake thread, but note that a large vocal chunk of these same enviros are the core of the anti-dove hunting petition.


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## paulywood

I have only been to Crystal once. It was 3 or 4 years ago on Fourth of July weekend. When I tried to launch my boat I was yelled at by people saying that there was no room for my boat. Even though i had friends that lived on the lake and we were parking at their house. The bottom of my trailer scraped on the pavement of the launch. My boat is only a 20' speed boat, not a cabin cruiser. When we got out on the lake it was practically empty. I saw maybe 5 jet skis and 6 boats. And this is a huge lake. There is no way people can be complaining about the number of boats on a regular basis. My friend whose parents live up there said that it is still empty especially compared to a lot of the other lakes we have been to like Elk, Torch, and Higgins. They need another boat launch sp everyone can enjoy this beautiful lake. This is jusy MHO of course. I have no scientific evidence to back it up.


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## toto

I agree with C&R, these guys just want it all for themselves. The funny things is, when the NPS was doing their new management plans for sleeping Bear dunes, there were some of these same guys there screaming about having open access within the park. Furthermore, I also agree that if these guys win the lawsuit, that should be the end of the fish stocking for that lake, tragic I know, but they don't deserve the sportsmans dollors to come there and fish. This lake doesn't get fished all that much in the summer, but in the winter it gets fished quite heavily. When I live up there, about a mile away from the lake, it was incredible how many icefisherpeople there were on any given weekend. This boat launch is needed, and yet this lake in underutiliized for its size. I don't think that people with high powered speed boats will be that big of a problem, this lake is well patrolled by the local sheriffs department, and these boats have no where to run to, see I don't see a problem there.


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## Rich Baker

Build the launch and put a 10mph speed limit on it . problem solved next case.


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## Hamilton Reef

Speed is not the real problem. Going from point A to B can be done safely as on any other large lake. The enviros don't want any boats on 'their' lake period. Remember the local rich enviros can be the biggest hypocrites right after they got theirs first, screw the public trust.


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## Hamilton Reef

Launch debate spawns back-room allegations 
Proponents are questioning lawyer's hiring

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/jan/17crystal.htm

BEULAH - Larry Harju likes to take his 17-foot aluminum boat out on Crystal Lake to fish for perch, lake trout and whitefish.
Many days, Harju says, he can't launch a boat at the lake's only paved public ramp in Beulah, either because he'd have to park too far away or because wind from the west makes the water at the ramp too rough.
A proposed Department of Natural Resources boat launch on the south side of Crystal Lake would make it much easier to access the lake, but Harju and other Benzie County residents worry that a behind-the-scenes effort is afoot to undermine that plan.
Already a lawsuit has pitted lakefront property owners against state agencies and those who want enhanced Crystal Lake access. 
"I don't think they own any of that water," Harju said. "I think the citizens of Michigan own the water, and they have the right to use it."
Proponents of the new boat launch - it would include two double boat ramps and more than 100 parking spots - suspect that county administrator Chuck Clarke, who owns Crystal Lake waterfront property, hired Traverse City attorney James Olson to tweak county zoning in favor of those who want to block or trim the launch site.
Olson and Clarke deny any back-room plot exists. Clarke said Olson was hired to review amendments to the county's zoning because he is an expert in zoning and environmental law.
The board of commissioners is expected to decide today whether to oust Olson at the request of county planning commissioners, who last week unanimously voted to ask the county board to "reconsider" Olson's hiring.
Some planning commissioners praised Olson's work, but Donald Tanner, a planning commissioner and former county board chair, said he worries about a memo Olson wrote in 2002 to the Crystal Lake Watershed Fund that outlines a legal strategy to contest "the size, scale, and design of a DNR Boat Ramp."
"It's almost as if we're using county taxpayer dollars to do the litigation for the people on Crystal Lake," Tanner said. "All of a sudden it appears we're trying to craft language that's going to be prohibitive. That's what's concerning me."
The Crystal Lake Property Rights Association sued the county and state in 2004 to block the ramp proposed for a location near Mollineaux Road.
County administrator Clarke is a board member of Crystal Lake & Watershed Association - separate from the Crystal Lake Property Rights Association - and said he is not attempting to block the boat launch.
He pointed to a memo he wrote in 2001 when he was president of the Crystal Lake Watershed Fund - a group that later merged with the watershed association - that expressed support for the DNR's proposed location.
Clarke said he was unaware of Olson's memo when he hired Olson to review county zoning. He said Tanner first brought it to his attention after Olson was hired, and he doesn't recall seeing the memo in 2002.
"I may have received it, but I probably didn't read it," Clarke said.
Olson said the memo was written in an effort to get his firm hired to represent the watershed fund. The organization opted for someone else.
Olson said changes in zoning could affect the boat launch, but he said he was not hired to interfere. 
"I don't oppose the boat ramp; I actually personally support a boat ramp if it's properly sized and designed," Olson said.
In a memo Olson wrote to Clarke this month about a "possible conflict of interest," Olson said he doesn't have a conflict, but suggested he avoid work on zoning issues that could affect the boat ramp.
Tanner and county commissioner Steve Haugen also question how Olson was hired in November without approval from the board.
Board chairman Donald Howard said Olson was hired in accordance with board rules that allow the hiring of an attorney between sessions with the approval of the chair or the vice chair.
Howard said Olson needed to be hired because a state zoning expert informed the county he could no longer consult on the zoning amendments.
Tanner said he doesn't believe Olson needed to be hired under a provision he said should be used only in emergencies.
"You have a number of commissioners who have no idea how we got Olson as our attorney, and that just stinks, frankly," Tanner said.
Howard said he was not sure what the county board would do with the planning commission's recommendation, but said the board would talk it over.
"If they don't have confidence in the working relationship with the attorney provided for them, that should be something we should talk about," Howard said. "But it will be a board decision."


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## thedude

i pay my taxes. i buy hunting and fishing licenses. its my lake too.
end of FREAKING story.

there is the same problem in indiana. i've been harassed several times fishing near someones pier on some very heavily used public lakes. my usual response is "call the police -- i'll wait."


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## Overdew

There was some talk years ago about making a channel from Crystal lake to Lake Michigan,but I guess that gat shot down too.


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## Burksee

Overdew said:


> There was some talk years ago about making a channel from Crystal lake to Lake Michigan,but I guess that gat shot down too.


Your about a hundred years to late with this post, it was tried and failed. The failed canal caused a permanent drop in the lake level, this is the reason why Crystal Lake has such a great beach fronts!


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## Bucktail Butch

The people that are fighting the boat launch are the same people that fought and delayed the Betsie Valley trail. They will tell you that they agree that we should have access but.......................

It interferes with the Betsie Valley trail..... (Yeah, right - the same system they fought so hard to block).

It's too big, it needs to be scaled back..... (It was originally engineered to facilitate two hundred vehicles with trailers, with parking for seventy five additional vehicles. Their demands were met; it has been scaled back to serve one hundred rigs. They still want more.)

It will require the filling of wetlands..... (A wetlands mitigation plan is in effect that will create more wetland acreage than will need to be filled.)

The additional boat traffic will cause shoreline erosion problems..... (Again, yeah, right - the people that are doing the protesting are the same people that ripped out the natural shoreline rootmass so that they could have manicured lawns and artificially created "beaches". That rootmass is nature's way of controlling erosion.)

There are more lame excuses and reasons, but their bottom line is......NOT IN MY BACKYARD. These people think that Crystal Lake is their own private piece of heaven and they want to keep the "riffraff" out (their words, not mine. It's documented.). The people who are fighting the launch are using the above excuses which have been refuted time and again. Apparently they're not imaginative enough to come up with new ones or feel they don't need to. They think that the old addage "Money talks, B__S___ walks" will force their wishes on us. Well surprise, they fought the trail and lost, they will spend a lot of time and money fighting this boat launch and they will lose again. 

The water is the property of the people of the state of Michigan. The DNR owns twenty one (+or -) acres dedicated to public access and we should be able to use it within the confines of the law.

I will try to keep you posted as this process drags along. If any meetings are upcoming, I will post that information here as well. If you're inclined to write some letters of support, we would appreciate it and I will dig up the relevant addresses and post them here within the next few days.

Leonard "Butch" Thompson


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## djkimmel

I've spoke at quite a few public access meetings over the years - the angry locals always sound and look exactly the same other than that in the past 10 years they've tried hard to make up more 'ecological' reasons why everyone else can't enjoy THEIR lake. Very tiresome, but you have to go and be heard since they are pretty loud.

My favorite all time was during the Senator Dunaskis stateside PA meetings - in Pontiac I believe - a foaming at the mouth (I'm not exaggerating much here) ranting 'local' shouted that the DNR screwed up by issuing all these boat registrations in the first place because if you don't live on a lake YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ALLOWED TO OWN A BOAT!!!!!!'

My personal posterperson for this issue. The first time I ever spoke at a public meeting was over a new boat ramp. I was the only one to speak in favor and I thought the locals were going to kill me with their bugged out eyes and yelling and the glaring looks I got. The MDNR taped my statement and played it back for me later - I couldn't even recognize my own voice I was so nervous and scared.

Now, I just make my notes, get up there and say what needs to be said. I hope that I have a chance to make it to a public meeting there if I haven't already missed it. I lost track of this issue because I live in Lansing and had plenty of other issues to follow the past couple of seasons. I think I heard they already had some public meetings on the issue, but if any more occur I hope to hear about it.


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## Hamilton Reef

The politicians, state DNR, and state DEQ employees are suppose to protect "The Public Trust Doctrine". That today is completely gone as politics and corruption money completely trumps the integrity of protecting the Public Trust. The DNR/DEQ staff works hard for the public, only to have the politicians bought off by the rich campaign contributions against the public trust. The real hypocrites of Crystal Lake are the environmental organizations that control the local area politics and their statewide environmental organizational cohorts supporting the political corruption funded by the rich lake riparian lakefront residents. They are technically in violation of their 501(c)(3) tax status, but are skilled at disguising their true motives. Bottom line is class warfare 101 that they don't want any working class on "their" lake. They moved up north to retire and get away from the blacks, evil down state tourist, and don't even want their local lower class servant residents on the rich class waters . All their environmental arguments against public access to public waters are just red herrings to cover up racism and economic warfare. The environmentalist are not immune to the NIMBY syndrome.


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## Hamilton Reef

Forum: Stewardship, safety on Crystal Lake
http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/jan/31forum.htm

January 31, 2006 BY ROBERT BIGELOW 

I am past president of Crystal Lake Property Rights Association. I have always supported the individual rights of property owners and their responsibility to be good stewards of the environment, especially Crystal Lake. 
I have never been opposed to public access to the lake. I am opposed to the proposed boat launch site, for the following reasons, which are over and above the association's court-approved settlement with Benzie County and the state in Bigelow v. MDOT.
Crystal Lake has been described as a giant bathtub. It is clay lined and spring fed. When water enters the Lake it stays for 60 years. 
I know the State Department of Environmental Quality would not intentionally allow the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to pollute any lake, but I do worry about consumer effects. Too many lakes in this country have been destroyed by shortsightedness. I only ask that every effort be made to protect this jewel of Benzie County. 
The DNR has long wanted a boat launch on Crystal Lake. But, one must ask, "at what cost?" 
So far, the DNR has spent approximately $4 million on this proposed boat launch site. The county as spent thousands in a time when severe cuts have been made in our school funding, county police protection, County Road Commission revenues and the full-time position of the Betsie Valley Trail manager. 
Do we really need this at this time? And who is going to maintain this boat launch - the DNR, the county, local clubs and organizations? And who would be liable if someone is hurt because of a lack of maintenance? 
The issue that bothers me the most is safety. 
The plan calls for a road coming down a hill to the boat launch. That road is on an 11 percent grade. It comes down approximately 300 feet. The state's own road standards call for a maximum of a 7 percent grade. 
At the bottom of the hill is the Betsie Valley Trail. The trail is designed for both walkers and bikers. The plan calls a four-way stop. Bikers do not always stop at stop signs. Cars and trailers coming down such a slope, which would be at times very wet from the bilge water of boats going up the slope, is a problem. 
In addition there will be gas and oil spillage and sand and gravel from the parking areas, all of which makes for a slippery slope and a difficult emergency stopping situation.
In addition, when people of all ages climb those approximately 149 steps to retrieve their vehicle and trailer after tying up their boat I hope they are in good health, as it sounds like a coronary in the making. I wonder if government immunity will cover those who decide to put our children and loved ones at risk? 
Our government, in my mind, needs to be not only a good steward (of our common resources), but also be responsible for the safety of those they serve. Aren't these both of prime importance?

About the author:
Robert Bigelow is a current board member of the Crystal Lake Property Rights Association and also its past President. He signed a consent settlement agreement with the State of Michigan, Benzie County and Crystal Mountain Enterprises in a dispute over the ownership of an abandoned railroad right of way along the shore of Crystal Lake. 

About the forum
The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made. Please include biographical information and a photo. http://www.record-eagle.com/edits.htm#forums


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## djkimmel

It warms my heart that this guy is so concerned about my, and others, safety. Other than that, he has no problem with more public access on HIS lake.

Yeah right. Every one of these public access battles sound exactly the same. "I don't have a problem with public access. No siree, not me. I just don't like this particular site..." Yeah right.

Of course, either there is no alternate site usually, or when one is found, it compounds the cost even more and the same people or their clones come out of the woodwork with the exact same complaints or new similar ones as to why that new site isn't any good either.

I liked it a lot better early on when they were honest and just stated the real truth - they don't want anyone else on their lake! They moved their to get away from the 'riffraff' (you and me) and they will do ANYTHING to keep the 'riffraff' (you and me) of their lake.

It's basic human psychology - psychology of territory and ownership. MINE, not YOURS. You can't have it! KEEP OUT! Exclusive property of me. Selfishness at its basest level.

Comes from the caveman days, I'm told. I keep wondering when and if we humans will evolve beyond this - "your not from around here, are you?" mentality.


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## Hamilton Reef

I will be seeing some of these enviro folks at a meeting Thurs/Fri. We'll see how much flack I get for associating with you ******* M-S.com guys.


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## waterfoul

I tried to lauch this boat there....24' Baja. But that day the ramp at the east end of the lake (in town) was way to rough and the waves were coming up over the transom and filling the cockpit! We left it on the trailer and called a buddy on the west end to come get us (we were going to hang at his cottage for the day). I'll bet they would really have loved me ripping across the 2-3' chop at 60+ mph throwing over 120 db of big block power out 4" semi-dry tail pipes! Oh, and by the way my boat is legal for noise at idle... which is how they are tested... so those rich pricks could just have kissed my back side for the noise... now the 55 mph speed limit on the other hand... well... very hard to enforce and very hard to check... so I just don't worry about it up that way. And besides... my buddies boat is faster than mine anyway!!!


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## Hamilton Reef

New lawyer sought for zoning revision 

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/jan/18zoning.htm

BEULAH - Commissioners voted to follow a recommendation to hire a different attorney to revise Benzie County's zoning ordinance.
Attorney Jim Olson sent a letter to commissioners after some residents questioned his role in the zoning revision because he previously wrote a legal memo about how to contest a proposed Crystal Lake boat ramp.
Proponents of the boat launch, which is tied up in court, said they feared Olson was hired to hold up the launch, a contention Olson and officials deny.
"I told the board I'd like to do the work, I live there, but I don't need it and I think this is the best way to go," Olson said. Olson said he didn't want his involvement to slow the zoning project.
County administrator Chuck Clarke said commissioners voted 4-3 Tuesday to follow Olson's recommendation and to consider hiring a new attorney for the next phase of the zoning revision, but to allow Olson to finish work he's already started.


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## Hamilton Reef

Judge to rule on boat launch 

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/feb/16launch.htm

By PATRICK SULLIVAN Record-Eagle staff writer 

BEULAH - A judge will decide whether to throw out a lawsuit that seeks to block a public boat launch on Crystal Lake.
Circuit Court Judge James Batzer heard arguments Tuesday in a case that ignited emotions of residents who want better lake access and waterfront property owners who say the ramp is a bad idea.
The Crystal Lake Property Rights Association sued the Department of Natural Resources and Benzie County over a boat launch that would be located at a site on the south side of the lake near Mollineaux Road.
The association argues the launch would violate a settlement agreement in a case over the Betsie Valley Trail, a walking and bike trail that runs on a rail corridor between the lake and lakefront homes that riparian owners also spent years attempting to block in court.
Plaintiff attorney Richard Wilson said the boat launch would violate the agreement because it would add another access point to the trail with paved parking and restrooms, thus encouraging more people to use the trail.
The boat launch also would give trail users access to Crystal Lake, another violation of the agreement, Wilson argued.
Harold Martin, who represented the state and Benzie County, argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the trail and the ramp are separate issues.
"It has nothing to do with the use of the trail," Martin said. "This is a NIMBY case pure and simple."
NIMBY is an acronym for not in my back yard, a phrase common in development circles. 
Batzer said he had questions about the boat launch.
"Why'd the DNR pick that area of all of Crystal Lake?" Batzer asked the attorneys. 
He said he believes there should be more lake access, but he said he thought the access should be distributed around the lake.
The boat launch would include four ramps, 100 parking spaces for cars and trailers and 21 spots for cars.
Batzer did not say when he would issue a decision.


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## Hamilton Reef

Judge rules in favor of Crystal Lake boat launch
James Batzer dismisses challenges brought by group

08/12/2006 By PATRICK SULLIVAN [email protected]
and BILL O'BRIEN [email protected]

BEULAH  A judge's ruling brings a Department of Natural Resources boat ramp on Crystal Lake one step closer to launch.

Circuit Court Judge James Batzer issued an opinion this week to dismiss a case against the state and Benzie County over the boat launch brought by a group called the Crystal Lake Property Rights Association.

Proponents of the boat launch believe it is critical to the public's ability to use the lake because the lake's other ramp in Beulah is insufficient to meet demand. Opponents say they don't like the proposed location near Mollineaux Road in Benzonia Township and that plans call for too much parking and too much development.

Batzer dismissed challenges to the ramp that were based on a settlement in an earlier case over the Betsie Valley Trail, which runs through the site of the proposed launch. Ramp opponents said the settlement in the Betsie Valley Trail 

case prohibits development of public parks along the bike trail or additional access points.

Batzer also dismissed an aspect of the lawsuit that challenged a permit for the boat launch issued by the Department of Environmental Quality because that matter will be taken up at a DEQ administrative hearing anyway.

The challenge to the permit will be reviewed by the DEQ's administrative hearings division. That appeal process is expected to begin next month but will have to run its course before the ramp can be built, state officials said.

The decision was great news to Jim VanderMaas, former chair of the Crystal Lake Access Rights Coalition.

"The judge ruled correctly because the people of the state of Michigan own Crystal Lake," VanderMaas said. "I'm elated. It just sounds like to me that Judge Batzer is using the rule of law."

VanderMaas said the boat launch and the bike trail have nothing to do with each other and the boat launch will be used by boaters, not people who want to use the trail.

Robert Bishop, president of the Crystal Lake Property Rights Association, disagrees. He believes the facilities built for the boat ramp will lead to more people using the bike trail  a result, be believes, that violates the earlier agreement over the trail.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed," Bishop said. "The judge's decision clearly indicates that a contract or an agreement doesn't mean much in Benzie County."

He said no decision has been made over whether to appeal Batzer's decision.

State officials were happy with the verdict but said it's too early to say when construction of the new ramp could start.

"We're very, very pleased with the decision," said Vicki Anthes, chief of the DNR's planning section. "It puts us a lot closer to where we can provide good public access to Crystal Lake."


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## snaggs

I guess you can write anything into a contract or agreement but if you violate the constitutional rights or just plain rights of individuals who collectively are known as citizens of the State Of Michigan and Citizens of the United States of America...many of us who served in the Armed Forces to protect the lands and waters in our great country...only to be dictated to by a group of greedy self centered individuals many who are women who never served their country for $ 62.00 a month in wages or were willing to die for others rights to be """"""""FREE"""""" to persue their happiness in this Great Land...and keep the right to drink wine at a secret spot on a lake and avoid contact with riff-raff that might somehow contaminate them....Yuck Pew..I don't want to get close to people who think their SH!& don't smell.....cause these people are just another form of """"Terrorist"""" who prey on others for their own blood sucking ways.......JMHO.....


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## Hamilton Reef

Court denies bid to stop boat launch

http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_261095233.html

09/17/08 By SHERI McWHIRTER [email protected]

BEULAH -- State officials may build a boat launch on Crystal Lake, despite some neighbors' efforts to block the plan, an appeals court ruled.

A Michigan Court of Appeals panel this month denied a local group's bid to prevent the state Department of Natural Resources from building a boat launch near Mollineaux Road west of Beulah, a site opposed by some nearby shoreline property owners. 

"It's smack in the middle of a residential area," said Bob Bishop, president of the Crystal Lake Property Rights Association.

That group sued the state and Benzie County in 2004 to block the construction of a new boat launch designed with four ramps and 100 nearby parking spaces. A local circuit judge threw out the lawsuit and Bishop's group appealed.

The suit was little more than an effort to block public access to Crystal Lake, said Ann Bourne, of Benzonia, a local activist.

"I think there's a real trend to fight public access to the water," Bourne said. "I think public access is a huge issue in the state of Michigan, where we are dependent on tourism. One of the 10th largest inland lakes in the state should have adequate public access."

Bishop said it's not a matter of opposing a public boat launch, just the proposed location because of its proximity to the Betsie Valley Trail. A previous settlement with the state does not allow additional trailheads there and the public boat launch would violate that deal, the Crystal Lake group's lawsuit contended.

Appeals Judges Jane Markey, Patrick Meter and Christopher Murray disagreed and upheld 19th Circuit Judge James Batzer's decision that prior settlement restrictions apply only to the trail and not to adjacent property, including the boat launch site.

But the DNR must abide by Benzie County zoning laws, the appeals court judges ruled.

Current zoning laws for that area do not address boat launches, so the DNR can apply and Benzie County planners must review the plans, said Craig Seger, the county's zoning administrator.

"We are not at all going to give up on Crystal Lake," said Bill Boik, DNR waterways planning manager.

There are no other state boat ramps on the lake. In 2002, the DNR used $1.1 million in waterways funds to purchase the 20-acre tract, meaning it must be used to support boating activity, Boik said.

Bishop said his group has not yet decided whether to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.


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## toto

This is good news. This fight has been going on for a while now, and finally someone saw reason, and sanity to do this job. I can't, quite frankly, see where this area is a bad area for a boat launch, in fact, I'd say its one of the best places for one. In fact, I really can't think of anywhere else on the lake that they could do a decent boat launch. I think that was the rationale with the property owners, that if they could block this site, then there are no other sites to use. 

As I said, way back in the beginning of this, these property owners are unbelievable. What they don't understand is, if they were able to block public use of this lake, which they can't, then the DNR would have no choice but to stop ALL fish plants in this lake; but I'm not too sure these people would care about that. Jim Vandermoss, is a good guy, who knows what he's doing on these issues, I applaud his and his group for fighting the good fight. It will be interesting to see what the zoning board does now, I don't think they'll want to make it too difficult.


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## Hamilton Reef

Hamilton Reef said:


> Bishop said his group has not yet decided whether to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.


Remember, the Chrystal Lake Association members are the rich class that is funding the campaign of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor up for re-election this fall. They know he will return favors if they take it to the supreme court.


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## susie2005777

This issue (among others) has been splashed all over the newspapers in Carson City and the Greenville news, as well. It is interesting to read all of this at once, because mostly people only tell what they want others to hear and some of the info here, I had missed. It wouldn't be fair to block the public use of the lake. I remember swimming and fishing on Crystal Lake as a kid. Back then, most of the places to stay were campsites with some cottages. My grandparents had a campsite at that lake and we used to spend a fair amount of time there. It was also kind of interesting to see some local issues on the M-S site.


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