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Highlands Today

Lake Denton's March Reopening To Be Discussed

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: February 14, 2008

Updated: 02/14/2008 10:50 am

SEBRING — Public access to the county's most popular lake will be restored next month as Highlands County officials tear down the concrete-and-chain-link-fence barriers that have kept the public out of Lake Denton since mid-September.

Vicki Pontius, county parks and recreation director, said the only stumbling block to reopening access to this exceptionally clean and clear lake is hiring a part-time worker to collect weekend user's fees.
That part-time worker also will have to unlock the gates to the county's lake-access ramp at 8 a.m. and lock it back up, closing off public access, at 4 p.m. each day.

At 4 p.m. March 4, the eight members of the Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee will meet for the first time since December for an update on implementation of their short-term plan for restoring limited public access.

The meeting was originally set for 6 p.m. that day at the Highlands County Agri-Civic Center, where the committee held all six of its previous meetings. Pontius, though, changed the meeting time to 4 p.m. and the site to the Lake Denton Baptist Camp.

Highlands County commissioners voted in mid-August to close public access to Lake Denton — which is among the state's three clearest lakes – on Sept. 10 for one year due to lakefront homeowners complaints

Restrictions And Charges

In early January, commissioners approved re-opening the Lake Denton access ramp with the following restrictions:
- On Saturdays and Sundays, a county attendant will collect user's fees of $25 per scuba diver;

- The number of people who can use the lake at any one time will be limited to the number of people who can be brought there in eight vehicles. The parking lot will have only eight spaces, and anybody parking outside of those spaces will risk having his or her vehicle ticketed, towed and impounded.

- The concrete blocks and chain link fences that now bar public access will be replaced with a gate. That gate will be opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 4 p.m. every day, insuring that divers are out of the lake five hours before sunset in the summer months.

- Monday through Friday, there will be no user's fees, but access will be restricted by the eight-space parking lot.

- No restroom will be built, but two Port-A-Johns will be located on or near the public-access ramp.
County Commissioner Don Bates chairs the committee as the non-voting member who lets the seven citizen members, appointed by the county commission, make all decisions.

Bates said the restrictions are the "short-term plan," designed to re-open limited public access as soon as possible.

Long-term improvements to public access to the lake will be considered by the committee after the short-term plan has been in place for several months, Bates said.

A Fourth-Grader's Protest

Meanwhile, a 9-year-old, fourth-grade student at Cracker Trail Elementary School plans to present his petition, which was signed by adults including his principal and his teacher, to the Lake Denton committee. The petition calls for the county to open Lake Denton completely so that it can be enjoyed by all children and adults in Highlands County.

Michael Stone, the student, began his petition drive in early October, shortly after the county closed access to the lake where his father taught him how to snorkel dive and to swim alone in a lake.
The boy's father, also Michael Stone, said he does not know yet if his son will present the petition at the March 4 meeting or at a later date.

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