Columbia Charter Township has met with the Clark Lake Lions Club with the intent to lease Club property. The Township’s primary purpose is to build a parking lot for the benefit of out-of-town boaters who use the west end boat launch.
At a Club meeting on Tuesday, October 22, Township Municipal Services Director Mike Trout outlined the proposal to members. The Township would compensate the Lions Club with taxpayer dollars. The Township’s proposal was motivated by one or two Club members who had contacted the Township.
The 32-acre Lions Club property is adjacent to a residential neighborhood, accessed only by an alley and dirt road, and is currently zoned agricultural. Would the parcel be rezoned commercial to allow the parking lot? Apparently not. Mike Trout has said rezoning would be unnecessary. The Township could do what it wants as it is not under the same regulations it imposes on private individuals or businesses.
The Township proposal was presented to Lions Club members, but has not otherwise been made public, nor has there been any call for public input. With that in mind, the website is publishing this article with the facts, as they are known, and making it available for comment.
Some residents have become aware of this proposal, and have expressed concern about the threat to quality of life at Clark Lake. Those who live on the lake see with their own eyes what goes on. Other residents, who live elsewhere in the Township, may view this differently, not having the benefit of daily observation.
The following notes some of those concerns.
Public Lake
Whenever discussions of this nature occur, it is often said that Clark Lake is a public lake. To be sure, public access is already widespread – the Beach & Boat Club, Beach Bar Yacht Club, Clark Lake Yacht Club, Eagle Point Marina, the County Park boat launch (includes parking) and several other more or less informal arrangements. Not counting transients, the July Boat showed 1,505 boats with 454 at the official clubs. Clark Lakers point to the pressure put on the lake by growing boat traffic. Recently, 30 boat trailers were counted in the Lions Club parking lot. Building a new parking lot could draw more.
Beach and Boat Club
Safety and Behavior
Some residents say transients aren’t always model citizens. That includes disregard of water safety protocols mandated by law and established for good practice. Others have experienced abusive behavior, similar in some ways to what goes on in the Township Park.
Environmental Impact
About 10 years ago, lakefront property owners petitioned the Township to impose a tax on themselves to control a major infestation of invasive weeds caused by visiting boaters. At that time, plants were visible on the surface, but the view below was even more threatening – it looked like an Amazon jungle. A raft ride around the lake required two or three stops to clear the prop. The Special Assessment District (SAD) weed abatement has been successful. But every time a visitor arrives, a newly hybridized, exotic plant could tag along, one that the contractor, PLM, might not be able to control. Starter plants can exist on a trailer bunk for up to three weeks.
Use of Tax Dollars
Lakefront property owners pay high taxes. As such they collectively make a large contribution to Columbia Township operation. One Clark Laker thought of the Chinese bullet analogy. When the Chinese are about to execute someone, they bill the family of the accused to pay for the bullet. Using tax dollars to build and maintain an ill-considered parking lot will draw more problems. It’s like using those high property tax dollars against Clark Lake, and its quality of life.
Please feel free to leave your comments below.
Will the township take on all risk regarding future infestations of invasive weeds in Clarklake? If not, they shouldn’t try to accommodate more transient boat traffic without supporting a public boat wash to insure that those boaters visiting Clarklake in the future have taken proper precautions to keep our waters free of unwanted infestations.
This is another poorly conceived idea. The township officials continue to be more concerned about non tax paying residents than tax paying residents. I have heard multiple bad ideas from various township boards over my 24 years. This idea ranks #1 for bad ideas.
Please voice your opinion or the board will act in the best interest of outsiders, as they always do.
Soooooo, let me get this straight. Tax dollars would go towards paving an area for mostly those to use that don’t live on or near the lake; buuuuut lake residents have to pay out of pocket to repave the roads around the lake which is supposed to paid for by tax dollars?
Over my dead body! This is total BS! They can’t even get our roads fixed! What a bunch of worthless, incompetent, self serving morons. Where is the 10K a year I already pay going? They should be plenty of lawsuits if this goes through.
Why would Columbia Township taxpayers pay to provide a public parking lot for boaters who bring invasive species into our lake? They fish the
Walleye we planted in the lake & drive on the roads we paid to pave. The Township or County can’t find funds to clean those same invasive lake weeds or pay for potholes.
No. This is not a project any of or taxes should fund.
Your vote in November can protect our lake.
Just plain ludicrous. A back litter.
I’m a former resident of Clark Lake. When I visit which is frequent, I’m shocked at the number of boats and water craft there are now.
When I grew up we had a pontoon and it was grand!
I don’t like the new proposal at all for many reasons.
I remember answering a questionnaire about possible ideas for using this land…tennis courts, pickleball courts, bball courts, bball field. What ever happened to those ideas? I would prefer these over more parking for more boats.
Thank you Rick for exposing the facts around this proposal.
To think the Township Board is proposing this option with taxpayer dollars without a vote is unacceptable. I hope every Clark Lake resident weighs in with their input .
The Township Board should consider the following.
This proposal borders residences, a school and a small number of businesses. It is a small area and such a use will devalue these properties. We should not do this to our neighbors at this end of the lake. We should seek alternatives that enhance the value of these properties and this area.
Every Clark Lake residence accepted an invasive species fee to keep our lake clean. We accepted this yet this proposal allows even more boats on the lake without a wash station, etc. Lakes in other states require visiting boats to go through a washing station to avoid invasive weeds coming in. So now the Township is proposing something that puts more risk on Clark Lake experiencing other invasive species coming into our lake. So our special assessment in essence is not the value we thought it would be when we accepted the assessment. That is not fair nor right.
Every Clark Lake residence has experienced visiting boaters that do not know the rules of the lake. For example the proper direction of travel. This is an accident waiting to happen and then the Board can be held accountable. We have all experienced guest boats throwing garbage in the lake while Clark Lake residences work hard to clean up the trash out of the lake. Now you are encouraging more boats on Clark Lake to challenge the health and safety of our lake in the future.
Finally it is likely that non residents would be using this parking lot and driving on Clark Roads yet the Township wants to use taxpayer dollars to improve this access road and lot while private residents are paying to repave their own public roads. This is wrong and unacceptable and a study should be done to follow the money and find our where our high taxes our going. This should be the number one project for the Township Board to take on. It is not right that residents are paying for roads.
To think this is being proposed by the Township feels like a slap in the face to every Clark Lake resident.
Please do NOT use public tax dollars from local residents to fund a transient parking lot.
This lake is packed on nice days. Eagle Point is full, the Beach Bar is full, the Beach and Boat Club is full, and the Clark Lake Yacht Club is full. There is no more space without causing negative effects on the lake ecosystem, and lake residents and increasing taxes for everyone who lives here.
1) Purchase of property for this project, the effect is increased taxes.
2) Initial construction of parking lot, the effect is increased taxes.
3) Property and parking lot maintenance over time, the effect is increased taxes.
4) Increase costs for invasive weed treatments by adding more accessibility for visitors from other lakes which increases risk, the effect is increased taxes or special assessments that lake residents carry the burden of paying.
5) Increase in lake usage/population on lake days which will increase the need for more support by the township for emergency services, the effect is increased taxes.
5) Increase the need for water patrols to ensure the safety of residents and transients due to increased usage/population, the effect is increased taxes.
So for increased taxes, we can have an additional parking lot and property. Why are we even having this conversation? Everyone already pays exorbitant property taxes. Instead, let’s have a conversation about how to decrease taxes in this township.
Great idea! The Lakes belong to everybody and having a safe and appropriate boat landing AND parking is important! Lake owners do not have a monopoly on convenience!
●● It is the duty of the township to provide convenient and safe parking for ALL that use the lake. That means lakefront property owners and non property owners / “day boaters” alike!
Nope! Please do not use our tax money so that fishing boats can have a place to park to use our lake. We are already paying an assessment to try to keep our lake clean from invasive species brought in from these fishing boats. Who is going to maintain and supervise this area?The Township has a hard enough time taking care of and supervising the Township Park. How about using that money instead for more patrol of our lake. I’m sure the tax payers would agree to that! Just a thought.
If it is legally possible I would like to identify Board members who supported/opposed this suggestion and encourage Lion Club membership to reject the proposal if presented.
Why invite more outsiders into our community when we pay taxes ..this is Ridiculous for a parking lot for them? There’s plenty of other lakes with parking lots large enough to accommodate them , they come out here with there Ludacris behavior. and indecency. I live 6 Houses from the park and I have not been there in 2 years because of the issues that I’ve seen first-hand I will not in any way condone the idea that we need a huge parking lot to invite more people into our community.fix my ROAD!
This is a bad idea for the township to think that they can handle yet more traffic on Clarklake. They already have a difficult time policing the current parks and lake. We already have more boat traffic than we can handle on the lake with the addition of renters and Air BNB new boat drivers that don’t know how to drive a boat and or lake boating rules, with 3 at capacity boating marinas. THERE HAS TO BE A LIMIT TO WHAT THE LAKE CAN HANDLE AND WE HAVE REACHED IT! Clarklake is becoming more of a hazard on the weekends with no policing going on. In previous comments, Amanda Rainsberger has pointed out all the reasons this proposal will increase our taxes, in addition, to RC, it is NOT the townships duty to provide safe and convenient parking for all, it is their duty to protect the residents who pay the taxes that live here.
Why not have the Community Foundation purchase the property for the community? We now maintain the east end property and the Graziani house, why not have a property on the West end for the community and let the community decide what to do with it?
Because of all the reasons already presented, this parking lot is a very poor idea and not a project our tax dollars should be used for. However, if the Township does decide to go against the wishes of the people living here and paying for this project, the Township MUST include a MANDATORY boat/trailer wash that the boaters are required to use before they launch their boats into Clark Lake. If the Township will not listen to our wishes regarding the parking lot, the Township MUST protect our Clark Lake from more invasive weeds that continue infiltrate our lake on these boats/trailers that go from lake to lake and spread the weeds around the county. This of course would add more cost to the idea and therefore this provides yet another reason the parking lot should not be done.
This is unacceptable to residents who pay heavy taxes to live on Clark Lake Added to our taxes is a yearly fee to fight invasive weed brought to the lake by these transient boats. This lake is saturated by boats on summer weekends. This has resulted in a practice of “coving” by nonresidents. In three or more areas large numbers of nonresidents anchor their boats for the afternoon and evening . They play loud music, litter the lake and create a public nuisance for other boaters who wish to enjoy the lake and homeowners as well.
An issue that is ethically, and perhaps legally worrisome, is the reported statement by Mike Trout, Municipal Services Director, that the township board can ignore its own zoning regulations and “do what it wants” with the Lions Club property.
Those of us who live on Clarklake have always been aware that the lake is “public”. As one responder said; it belongs to everyone. The truth is, it belongs to no one. However, its residents have the ultimate responsibility of preserving it. We constantly observe people who don’t share our love of the lake, who drop their boat for the day and don’t think about it after they leave. Don’t think about the invasive weeds they may have contaminated it with, the trash they left behind, the excessive amount of gas (ect) in the water, the boaters they almost hit and the peaceful days they interrupted by playing their music far too loud.
We support The Lions Club and enjoy their contribution to the lake. Everyone knows of the fantastic chicken they make for Raft-O-Rama and the amount of work they put into it for all to enjoy. The park on Hyde is a wonderful asset, and the improvement diagram looks fantastic. I would like a solution that would benefit the lake, not the township.
From recent issues it would seem that the Township doesn’t have money to spend. A fund raiser was found necessary in order to repair the “Township Cemetary”, residents are privately paying for paving roads. Taxpayers are finding it hard to see where our money is being spent.
We are adamantly against using our taxes on a parking lot for non-residents.
John and Elaine Stewart
What is there to stop the Lions Club from putting up a donation box and allow parking all on their own? Why should the township – and more importantly, the township’s money – be applied to something that can be dealt with privately?
Why does it seem like there is never really any kind of strategic master plan for development here with pillars of central objectives that serves to meet wants/needs of all people?
Instead, it seems like just ad-hoc ideas come forward that our Township officials consider, e.g., an expensive redesign of county park, curbing park hours, denying a school the ability to pave a parking lot because of it’s current zoning, yet it’s been a parking lot for years, marijuana farms, etc. Then, obvious, unsafe continued deterioration of roadways goes unresolved beyond residents pay for it.
Why would you focus on building a parking lot, yet the launch sits directly on a public roadway in total disrepair, surrounded by neighboring properties constantly bothered with vehicle and foot traffic? No boat launch should be directly at any public roadway.
If the Lion’s Club wants or needs to monetize their property, then I would hope they would seek out highest and best use. Additionally, though the Township may have the right to hold discussions/consider proposals privately – it would seem wiser in the interest of the appearance of full transparency, the discussions and points of view should be open to the public.
I’d rather see a handful of citizens work to create a strategic master development plan for this community. It doesn’t take much to go view what other small communities have done, seeking some expert advice. Take a look at what the Village of Whitehouse, Ohio did with a county owned quarry and turned a small village into a park experience connecting residents, small business owners, and then built a beautiful veteran’s memorial right in the center of the village – all by turning over control to MetroParks with state and federal funding. It wasn’t done based on one-off ideas – but a master plan. There are plenty of these success stories to use as models.
My fellow Clark Lakers have eloquently expressed the many objections to a tax funded parking area on the lake’s west end. As a nearby property owner, I want to add my opposition to such a proposal. And thank you, Rick, for bringing this into public awareness.
No I think it’s not a good idea. There’s to much trash in the lake now. I won’t vote for it.
This is a bad idea. Setting up the potential for more transient boat activity and having our tax dollars pay for it is unacceptable.
In just the last few years, there has been a dramatic increase in transient boats on Clark Lake. High boater traffic especially on holiday weekends causes safety issues.
The potential for a serious accident caused by high traffic and unfamiliar boaters just goes up with more boats on the lake.
In addition, the potential for new invasive species certainly increases with additional transient boat activity.
Poor use of tax dollars supporting a negative result. Columbia Township Trustees, please DON’T move forward with this proposal.
This is a horrible idea. Residents are currently paying out of pocket to have our roads paved which should be done with our tax dollars.
The road to the park is a dirt road and not in great condition. It cannot support the traffic of boats and trailers. I recently was walking on that road when a fishing tournament was finishing up on the lake and the amount of boat/trailer traffic was crazy. Do we want that every day? The recently opened school/daycare is on that road. Doesn’t seem safe to increase the traffic in that area.
The danger of invasive species invading the lake is another huge issue. We should be protecting our lake.
Our tax dollars should be used to help with the issues that benefit the residents and invest in the community in ways that improve the environment not something that benefits non-residents
This idea floated by the township would be a disaster for Clark Lake. Clark Lake already has too many boats going in and out of the boat launch as it is. It may be a “public” lake, but those who show up with their boats for a day trip to the lake are the most careless and irresponsible of those who are on the lake. They don’t live on the lake, so they have much less respect for keeping the lake clean and free of invasive species, which they bring in from the other lakes they use. I have personally witnessed some of the most offensive and disrespectful conduct of these boaters going in and out of the boat launch – why invite more of this kind of conduct ? The township board needs to shelve this plan immediately – the day trippers have other places to go !
My neighbors have expressed really good reasons to oppose this. A private parking lot does not seem to follow as an obligation or purpose of our government. If the Lions want to allow parking on their property, there is nothing to limit what they could do. It really sounds like there is a back story that is intended to benefit some individual or entity, but it certainly is not a proper function of our government. I think this is a terrible idea.
The Lions Club members have always been an integral part of the Clark Lake community and I’m sure they will do the right thing when and if this comes to a vote. A Club in Columbia Twp on agriculture land is under a special use permit. Use being for club meetings and events .
The thought of living in a residential area on a dirt road with very little traffic becoming the only way to access a commercial parking lot is a ridiculous and unsafe idea. Next thing taxpayers will be asked to supply bathrooms , fish cleaning area along with daily trash collection. Neighbors of the church parking area for years picked up trash, unwanted fish left behind and called police about fights braking out after a day in the sun and drinking.
On another note, the Township does not own or maintain any roads. With one third of the Lake users already coming from non-lake front owners one would think that would be enough. There are plenty of places, slips and boat launchers already on the lake.
I am against the township using my tax dollars to purchase property to be used as a parking lot because I don’t believe it will benefit the taxpayers of the township. There has been no mention of the additional cost to the township or if there is any income to be generated to offset the expense of operation. I am especially annoyed with the statement by Mr. Trout that the township doesn’t need to play by the same rules as the citizens of the township.
This parcel is rather isolated and doesn’t have much human traffic. As such it could be an ideal location for criminal activities, such as drug dealing with no one around to observe, dumping of trash with no tipping fees, other criminal activities like robbery. It’s unlikely that the Columbia Township police department would have the desire or resources to patrol it.
It took drastic action on the part of several local officials to bring the Township Park back to life and that is located adjacent to a busy road and on the lake.
A very bad idea, and inappropriate if not illegal use of taxpayer dollars.
I agree with all the reasons above that this is a bad idea and would like to add one more, the trail winds through this area so now we will have people driving in and out with trailers and walkers? Seems like an accident waiting to happen. I get that it’s a public lake but there is a fine line between being fully public and preservation. We need to make decisions around boat limitations and such before we start making parking lots for more boats. Even public parks have limitations on how many people are allowed to be in a certain area. Let’s be smart about this Township!
I would prefer fewer boats on the lake & agree with most of my fellow Laker comments. The growth in number of pontoon rafts, combined with their weekend mass-anchoring on the leeward side of Eagle Point, hogs the lake from other boaters! And I too would prefer fewer drop-ins for the many reasons mentioned. But my understanding is that the Township’s discussions about leasing some of the Lions Club land, purpose is to replace the former Church lot (now an awesome School), and the trailer parking that may be eliminated from the Township Park on Hyde Road. IE. The Township’s consultant’s Comprehensive 2025 Plan Proposal recommendations include reducing its parking to as low as 12 spaces: in order to reduce the number of non-Township residents that attend the park. The Township needs to be transparent & explain the above to its taxpayers. Back room deals enacted by a few people, is not how our democracy is supposed to operate!
You must appreciate my perspective on Clarks Lake. I am old enough to remember when we “dirt farmers” allowed cottagers to use “our” lake. My father made money moving cottagers luggage from the train station to the steam boat taxi in 1920. Cottagers were nice neighbors until they made us keep our cows out of the lake. Just a little cow poop was too much for them. Go figure!
I know that things have changed and many who now live on the lake year-round may believe that it is their lake. Of course, both perspectives are wrong. The state of Michigan owns the water, and lake-front folks own the bottom of the lake.
As Shakespeare said: Therein lies the rub! Invasive weeds infect your bottom land! But the weeds grow there because of the pollution from the state’s water.
If you think that we can ever keep off-lake boaters off Michigan’s Clark Lake water you are delusional!
If you would like to impose some controls (Not restrictions!) on off-lake boaters, you should see the current situation as an opportunity to work with the township (negotiate?) to implement some controls that may:
– build a boat wash station in Lions park.
– put a TV camera system in Lions park.
– implement an annual permit system.
– limit the number of permits issued.
– require those with permits to “prove” they are launching a clean boat.
– require every Clark Lake boat launch to enforce the permit system.
– charge enough for those permits that it will cover the cost of weed control.
– deputize Clark Lake boaters to help enforce the permit system.
– and your ideas are?
– lets start the discussions!
Will these measures ensure that invasive plants, bad aquatic life, or errant boaters never enter our lake? Absolutely not! There is no 100% in life except death and super-high lake-front taxes.
But implementing controls may mitigate some of the damage done to our lake. I truly hope that this opportunity will result in a cleaner and safer Clark Lake for everyone . . . for me!
(Yes, I still think it is my lake even tho’ I don’t pay those “super-high” lake-front taxes.)
Of course, if you are happy with things as they are, you kinda’ hope that the township parking lot idea goes away and off-lake boaters can keep on parking where ever! There are still 5 to 9 boat trailer parking spots left in the Montessori school parking lot and the county park has plenty of parking available.
So, I close with something that came to my mind as I write. This “debate” is beginning to sound like a new version of “The Field of Dreams”: If we don’t build it, they won’t come!
I’m not standing in line to buy a ticket to that show.
To clarify, lake frontage property owners have “Riparian Rights” within the State-owned Clark Lake; the width of their frontage, and out into the Lake to a “navigable” depth. IE. Typically construed & interpreted to about 4 to 5 feet deep water. Past the end of docks. The water & “bottom” within said Riparian Rights are the domain & in the control of frontage owners. Only those landowners & their “invitees” (guests) can be within their Riparian Rights.
In other words, no one else can “trespass” (swim, fish, boat, etc.) within said Riparian Rights.