(Spirit Lake)– The public will have two different opportunities to ask questions and comment on proposed changes in dock rules.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has scheduled open house meetings for next week in Spirit Lake and Clear Lake. The meeting for Spirit Lake will be held Monday, August 28th from 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Dickinson County Community Building.
Lowell Joslyn of the DNR says a number of issues have been addressed in the proposed new rules. They include:
*911 numbers on all docks
*Appropriate fee structures that cover DNR administrative costs
*Consistency between DNR rules and local zoning
*Grandfathering previously permitted docks in most cases
*Maximum lengths (flexible to accomodate water depths in certain lakes)
*Establishes the longest permitted length as 300 feet to protect navigational rights and safety
*Substitutes square foot criteria with number of hoists or slips (except for an upper limit on platform size per the DNR Director)
*Keyholing issue addressed by developing strong guidance to limit future dock expansion where adequate riperian ownership is inconsistent with other lake users
*Minimum dock offset of five feet from the owner’s property line. This preserves access to shoreline in case of emergency, ensures a 10-foot buffer between docks, and avoids interference with neighbor’s rights.
Joslin says the DNR plans to submit the new proposed rules for docks to the Natural Resources Commission at its October meeting.
