Lake Malone focus of public meeting

In 1997 Kentucky fishery officials began issuing permits for the construction of private docks at the nine state-owned lake properties where such structures are allowed.

Before then, approval from the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources was required, but no permit system was in place.

In the years since the 1997 regulation, the department's lax enforcement of the dock rules and permit requirements, coupled with landowners' noncompliance, has led to a bureaucratic and administrative mess.

It also has led to plenty of unregulated and sometimes illegal dock and walkway construction -- especially at Lake Malone, the largest and most popular of the lakes where Fish and Wildlife officials allow private docks.

The others are Beaver, Boltz, Carpenter, Corinth, Elmer Davis, Guist Creek, Kincaid and Kingfisher lakes. Most other state-owned watersheds are in wildlife management areas or state parks, all of which prohibit private docks.

No one is singularly at fault for this mishmash of lakeshore construction, according to state fisheries director Benjy Kinman. But regulation changes and stricter enforcement apparently are coming.

Kinman and other Fish and Wildlife officials held a public meeting Tuesday night in Lewisburg to serve notice of the coming changes and to discuss how to regulate private docks and the access to them. An overflow crowd of about 300 attended.

What those changes will be has yet to be determined, but the process is likely to be detailed and laborious. Kinman said whatever happens at Malone will serve as the blueprint for addressing similar issues at the eight other properties.

The current regulations are fairly straightforward, but Kinman said oversight and enforcement have been somewhat neglected -- a deficiency he attributed largely to poor record-keeping in Frankfort and a manpower shortage in the field.

Apathy by some landowners also has been a factor.

"A lot of times someone may know what the regulations are, but they'll see a neighbor with a dock or stairway that's too big or that doesn't meet the regulation, and nothing happens to them," Kinman said. "So they'll do something similar. We know that happens."

Lake Malone covers 767 acres in Muhlenberg, Todd and Logan counties. The picturesque reservoir is one of the largest and most popular state-owned watersheds.

Lakeside development -- including construction of docks and stairways to get to them -- has grown rapidly at Malone in recent years. Kinman said approximately 390 private docks dot the lakeshore. The agency has issued permits for about 350, but officials don't know if those went to current or previous owners -- perhaps even the original owners.

Malone opened in 1963.



Kinman said his office is compiling a list of all current property owners and will match existing docks and staircases to landowners. Officials already have recorded GPS locations for all the docks, stairways, platforms and other lakeside construction at Malone.

"We know where they are," Kinman said. "Now we need to find out who they belong to."

Current regulations restrict dock size to 128 square feet with no more than 16 feet in any direction. Most meet this general size cap, but some do not.

Another pressing issue at Malone is the construction of staircases from residences to the docks. Much of the shoreline is rocky and steep. Regulations prohibit putting private steps "on department property," and Fish and Wildlife owns a 50-foot public-access buffer around the lake.

"Our concern right now is mainly with the staircases," Kinman said. "Everybody's trying to get from point A to point B, and we understand that. But you can't build anything within the 50-foot (buffer) without a waiver. This is property that the commonwealth of Kentucky owns."

(All state and federal watersheds include a public buffer or easement along the shore. Kinman said distances and details at some state-owned lakes vary because of specific deed rights at different watersheds.)

He would like to see regulations adopted at Malone and the other state lakes that allow private docks that follow the Corps of Engineers' approach to building walkways to reach water. Private docks are not permitted on Corps lakes, but access to the water often incorporates pea gravel and use of railway cross ties set in such a way as to follow the natural contours of the land.

Kinman knows that the "no stairs" rule is unrealistic in some circumstances. Officials do issue waivers for stairways, but most homeowners at Malone apparently haven't bothered requesting them.

"The regulation says no stairs without a waiver," Kinman told the crowd. "We have 23 waivers, but there are many more staircases than that out there now."

He acknowledged there are no easy answers to any of these problems. He said in cases of an obvious, gross violation -- for example, a deck or platform constructed inside the 50-foot buffer zone -- he could foresee a recommendation to the Fish and Wildlife Commission that the structure be removed.

One change that is almost certain is an increase in dock permit fees. The state now charges $25 for a permit, renewable every five years. A proposal to increase it to $100, renewable every 10 years, is on the docket for Friday's commission meeting.