Interesting situation that could set some dangerous precedents.

A judge in Alabama is deciding whether residents living around a lake
can
decide what sort of watercraft will be allowed to use the lake.



*************

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A state judge could decide in a little more
than a month whether to uphold an Alabama law banning high-speed
cigarette boats and large house boats from three popular Alabama
lakes.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Johnny Hardwick heard the final
testimony Monday in a lawsuit challenging the law. He gave attorneys
for both sides 30 days to prepare proposed orders and said he would
rule shortly after receiving them.

In 2006, the Legislature passed - and the governor signed -
legislation that banned some boats from three Alabama Power Co .
lakes: Martin, Weiss and Harris, which is also known as Lake Wedowee.
Banned were cigarette boats longer than 26 feet, 11 inches and rated
for speeds more than 60 mph, and all new boats, including houseboats,
longer than 30 feet, 6 inches. Houseboats already on the lake could
remain, provided they had sanitation systems designed to prevent waste
from getting into the lakes.

Opponents of the law challenged it in court, and state Conservation
Commissioner Barnett Lawley delayed enforcement pending a ruling.

"We still feel that there's no reasonable basis to single out these
law-abiding boaters," Montgomery attorney Frank Wilson told The Daily
Home of Talladega. Wilson represents a Jasper boat dealer and several
boat owners on Lake Martin.

Montgomery attorney Bobby Segall, who represents four Lake Martin
residents, said the law "reflects what 95 percent of the residences on
Lake Martin want." He said the state has the right to set aside water
for specific uses much like it does land.

Alabama Power intervened in the case in support of the law, saying it
has an interest in protecting property values and property uses
because it is a significant landowner at the lakes.

The push for the law began after Georgia developers expressed an
interest in building a resort community on Lake Harris, provided
boating restrictions were enacted.

Information from: The Daily Home - Talladega, http://www.dailyhome.com