Jim wrote:
"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...
I drive nearly every day past a good example of this phenomenon. An
area once occupied by the physically largest recreationally oriented
boatyard on Seattle's Lake Union is being developed for condominiums.
To skirt City of Seattle requirements that any waterfront developments
must be related to water-oriented activities, a very small dock has
been built as part of the project. It would seem unlikely that there
will be any public access to this dock, as none of the new owners of
the $half million and up, up, up waterfront condominiums will want
strangers coming ashore in their front yard. Most likely the moorage
will be sold to the condo residents.

Well, its going to take a little more than lip service to solve this
problem.
Seems like your local government needs to be proactive and buy up some of
that land for public use. You're willing to ante up a lfew pesos to support
that effort, aren't you?

Funny that you would bring that up.

Here in the Soviet of Washington, The People already own most of the
land beyond the high tide or high water line. The property is
administered by the Department of Natural Resources, or DNR. A lot of
good it does us to "own" this, however. Ownership doesn't equate to
access. Because The People of the State of Washington own the land,
owners of adjacent properties- (marinas, fuel docks, boat yards,
private residents, yacht clubs, restaurants, etc) get to "lease" the
ground under the water from the DNR. Obviously there are no competitors
in the game of leasing out the ground into which your pilings have been
driven, so the rates are whatever the state thinks traffic will bear.
And the state thinks the traffic will bear a lot! These perpetually
increasing costs for DNR "leases" make property taxes look like a
bargain, and the costs are passed along to the boating public or
absorbed by the business owner until they are driven under by the
expense.

Land use policy makers would do well to recognize the significant
contribution to local economies provided by recreational boaters. What
other group spends so much, while expecting so little in return? :-)

Public ownership is nice, but all the parks, easements, and so forth
aren't of much value to boaters unless boating is included in the
activities envisioned on the public properties and reasonable access is
assured.