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Highlands Today

LAKE DENTON: Tentative Plan Would Open Lake In January

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: November 16, 2007

SEBRING –– Public access could be restored to Lake Denton as soon as January, under a plan tentatively adopted by a special seven-member citizens committee.

Highlands County commissioners may receive the proposal in December. It calls for restricting access through limited parking, weekend user's fees, and closing the county boat ramp at 4 p.m. daily.

During summer weekends, dozens of vehicles carrying scuba divers, swimmers, sunbathers and a few boaters often overflowed the county's parking lot at the lake.

Committee members are recommending that parking be limited to only eight spaces. Vehicles parked outside of the designated spaces could be ticketed or towed.

Further restrictions recommended by the committee include:

* Charging $25 per diver per day and $25 to launch a boat on Saturdays and Sundays, while there would be no charge on weekdays;

* Locking the gate to the boat ramp at 4 p.m. every day and opening it at 8 a.m.; and

* Staffing the boat ramp with a private security officer from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends only.

The short-term, tentative plan was agreed to Wednesday night at the fourth meeting of the Lake Denton Citizens Committee, appointed by the county commissioners shortly after they closed public access to this popular scuba diving site in early September.

Commissioner Don Bates, the non-voting chairman of the committee, said this plan won't be a long-term solution to overcrowding at the popular lake. But, he said, it could restore public access soon while work continues on a long-term plan.

From the start, committee members agreed that any plan to reopen public access to Lake Denton must focus primarily on safety.

"To do that we need to reduce the number of users at any one time," Bates said.

"Our goal right now," Bates added, "is to open it (Lake Denton) as soon as possible."

Committee members agreed that this plan should be viewed as a first step, which will be evaluated and probably modified.

"I think we can look at how it works for four, five or six months and see if it needs to be changed, and whether we might want to add facilities or more parking," Bates said.

Camp Still Open

Meanwhile, scuba divers are continuing to enter the lake from Lake Denton Camp, located next to the county boat ramp, the only public access to the lake. The non-profit, faith-based camp has been charging divers $5 for lake access since the county boat ramp was closed on Sept. 10.

"We have people (divers) every weekend and occasionally during the week, and we're still charging the $5," said Philip Elders, camp director. "A lot of them say even though they are going to open up the boat ramp eventually, they'll still come to the camp because it's secure and it's a little nicer."

Lake Denton Camp has fenced in, secure parking, restrooms and picnic tables by its lakeshore. The county has provided only two port-a-johns, a parking lot and a 40-foot ramp for lake access.

Elders said the camp was opened to scuba divers "as a way to share God's creation," help the scuba divers and raise a modest amount of income. Even through its busy summer camping season, he said, the camp can accommodate up to 15 to 20 car or van loads of divers.

"It's worked out good, everybody is respectful to each other and so far everybody has followed our rules," Elders said. Because it's a Christian organization, he said, the camp doesn't allow alcoholic beverages, smoking, and swearing or crude language.

Work In Progress

Crude and rude language and behavior, as well as drug use and under-age drinking, were problems reported, especially at night, in and around the county's boat ramp. Committee members view closing the boat ramp at 4 p.m., and the parking lot soon after, as a way to curb those problems.

The five committee members at Wednesday's meeting voted unanimously to send their tentative recommendation to Ross Macbeth, the county's attorney, for review. At their next meeting, on Dec. 5, the committee plans a vote on sending recommendations to the county commissioners.

Committee member Jack Richie agreed with the short-term plan but said eight parking spaces would be woefully inadequate for the long term.

"Positively, in my mind, you would (eventually) need more parking spaces," said Richie, president of the Highlands County Homeowners Association.

"I think we're moving closer to the solution," said Vicki Pontius, county parks and recreation director, following the committee's vote.

Resolving the problems at Lake Denton, she said, "is going to take some give-and-take" with compromises from lakefront homeowners, scuba divers, boaters, fishermen and others who enjoy the lake.

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