ST. PAUL - Access to an area known by locals as St. Paul Beach on St. Vincent Lake was back on the County of St. Paul council agenda last Tuesday with council members discussing three options in an attempt to resolve the issue of access.
Last year, council received concern from local residents whose access to the beach area had been cut off when the current owners of the lot adjacent to the environmental reserve on the east side prevented public access by fencing and gating the area. The issue is complicated by the fact that for many years, previous owners of the lot in question made use of the adjoining public land, treating it as their property including placing some structures on the area.
People were permitted to drive across their lot to get to the beach area. As a result, there was some confusion as to where the property lines actually were when the current owners purchased the lot.
The issue is further complicated because the county is undertaking a re-subdivision of 15 lots to the west and lot owners have already agreed to the new lot lines proposed.
Coun. Dale Hedrick said he’s received multiple calls from landowners on the issue and believes the issue should be handled “the way we’ve treated other properties with encroachment.”
He made a motion to support option 3 on the table which is to have the lot owners remove all their developments from the reserve area onto their own property. The motion got the support of council. Furthermore, the lot owner on the west of Pine Street will be asked to agree to adjust his property line to allow enough room for a proper access to be built on the road allowance. The county will pay the bill for re-surveying the property.
“We don’t need a highway going in there, just need access. It’s just a snowball effect and why are we going to spend all this money. There’s no reason for it,” Hedrick said, as council discussed the access road and whether parking on the environmental reserve should then be allowed was discussed with Hedrick again cautioning, “We’ve got to watch where we got there. It could set a precedence.”
Reeve Steve Upham allowing parking on the environmental reserve could potentially “open a pandora’s box,” adding that allowing parking in the area might also result in people choosing to camp there also.
“I think there’s been so much controversy with this area that I think it will be self-policed,” Coun. Maxine Fodness said.
