rlfpoa.org

The Rose Lake Forest private beach currently has two areas where boats are allowed to be parked-- Day Parking, and Extended Parking. The rules for how these areas are managed are made and implemented by the Association.

Day Parking is pretty self-explanatory, but not so with Extended Parking.

Current Rules for the Extended Parking Boat Area
(as reported in official newsletter, 2019 Spring)

Boat docking slips will be reserved on a 1st docked basis every spring

Once your boat is docked in the slip, you will need to fill out an owner information form and affix a RLFPO boat sticker.

Once assigned this sticker, the member will have this boat slip for the season

All boats must have bumpers/fenders to protect other docked boats

All boats must be removed from the boat slip by November 1st

No fishing from boats that are docked in slip

Please keep the area around your boat and beach clean of weeds and debris

Boats left on beach after November 1st will be subject to a $50 fine

Boats not removed by May 1st of the next season will be considered abandoned and the Sheriff department contacted for further action.

These rules became effective 10 days after the postmark on the 2018 Fall newsletter

Boat registration forms available by contacting Darrell Tue at 313-829-1260

As I stated in the prior post, I'd like to open up discussion on how to better manage Extended Parking at the beach.

The problem as I see it is we have a few members who park a pontoon in the Extended Parking area, just as soon as the ice melts, and then expect that since they got there first, they are somehow entitled to use that space as their own private slip for the remainder of the summer. Some of these boats are only used a handful of times during the season, but take up space that should reasonably be made available to others.

Any move to change this behavior will surely be met with loud resistance by the few offenders, but my concern is for the larger body of members.

Granted, this is NOT a huge problem. There is usually at least one space available in the extended area, except on the busier weekends. And I've never seen a time when the day-parking was full, even on holiday weekends. But those busy weekends are busy because that's when more people like to use the beach, and there's no good reason they shouldn't have equal access to boat parking.

I think we need to acknowledge we have too many members to let anyone have a private slip for the entire season. That means anyone who wants to have a boat they can sometimes park at the beach needs to own his own trailer (or have ready access to one), and be required to store his boat elsewhere (his own lot) most of the time.

Before anyone starts grumbling about the cost of acquiring a trailer, please consider that each parking space on our beach has a value. If you've ever rented a slip in a marina, you know the cost of a single season can easily be more than the cost of buying a trailer. I think that renders everyone's argument about the cost of a trailer mute. Besides, there's nothing to stop several property owners who are friends from getting together and buying a single trailer they can all share. So the cost of a trailer is simply not an issue.

I don't know exactly what is the value of a parking spot on our beach, but it has one. An easy way to find out would be to auction off the available spots every season. Then we'd know it's worth: the exact amounts of the winning bids for each spot.

I personally think that's not the best way, since it unfairly favors wealthy members over poorer ones, and every property owner in RLF owns part of the beach in common with other members, no matter how much he can or cannot afford to bid on a parking space.

The crux of the matter, in my opinion, is that everyone needs to be moving their boats out of the space, and not leaving them there for the entire season.

Here are the remaining generic issues I can think of; by which I mean issues which would be applicable to ANY program which might be adopted; maybe you can think of more?:

• The maximum number of consecutive days any member should be allowed to park.
• The minimum number of consecutive days before that same member can return.
• Someone will have to enforce whatever policy is put into place. That means keeping track of how long a boat has been in a space, and towing it to storage if it overstays.
• The enforcement person's time is valuable and he should be paid, especially when a boat must be towed to storage. We probably have any number of people who, for ten bucks a trip, would agree to make a single trip down to the beach each evening in the summer to document the overnight boats. The season lasts about a hundred days, so this person would make a thousand dollars for the summer.
• The obvious way to fund this is through fines to offenders. Part of the fine would go to whoever tows the boat, and the rest to the Association to fund the program. Fifty or a hundred bucks seems reasonable off the top of my head, but that should be open for discussion. A lot of jerks would think nothing of paying a $100 fine for breaking the rules on a holiday weekend, so maybe the fine goes up for those weekends?

I can think of other issues, but it seems to me they would apply to specific plans. This ought to be enough to get the discussion started.

Okay, I've started the discussion and stated the problem.

At lot of different solutions have been proposed over the years. Here are some of them:

• Season Pass; purchased
• Season Pass; lottery
• Paid Reservation
• Free Reservation
• First come first serve (finders keepers)

We already know first come first serve doesn't work; that's what we have now.

I've already explained why I think any plan which allows a member to have an assigned space for the whole season is a bad idea.

Of the old ideas, that leaves a reservation system, which requires a degree of management that is probably beyond anything our Board wants to undertake.

Now I'd like to offer my preferred solution; what I think (at least hope) will work best.


The Un-Managed Solution

I can't say for sure, but I think once every member is made to move his boat after a certain maximum stay, this whole problem will solve itself.

First things first: I recommend the Association print and use a special boat sticker. Only members can buy stickers. Limit the cost to not much more than the cost of actually making the sticker. Each sticker has a unique number on it, and the Association keeps a spreadsheet that ties the number to the owner and his contact info.

If you want to park a boat on Association Beach, you must affix a boat sticker to the boat. Any boats parked in violation are to be immediately towed and put in storage. This is to make sure only member-boats are using the parking, and make it easier to keep track of their duration of stay.

When the member buys the sticker he signs an agreement saying he'll follow the rules, pay any fines, and absolve the Association of liability for damage if the boat ever must be towed.

Now let's say we set a maximum stay of two overnights; or three, or even four overnights. I think any of those might work, and can be open for discussion, but I recommend no more than four.

When a boat has reached the maximum stay limit, it must be removed or the owner is subject to a per-day fine; amount is open to discussion.

After three days fines, the boat is towed to storage. In order to retrieve his boat, the owner must pay a towing fee, plus per-day storage (amounts open to discussion).

If a boat owner is more than ten days delinquent on fines, he loses his parking privilege (for any and all boats) until the fines are paid.

Once a boat has been removed from a parking space, whether voluntarily by the owner, or by tow, the owner must wait a certain number of days before he becomes eligible to use any space again. This is regardless of whether he parked the boat for one night, or his allotted maximum.

The number of days to wait can be discussed and tweaked over time as to what works best. Of course it has to be at least one, to make sure the boat was really moved. The principles of laziness and inertia might solve the problem right there. Most people will probably not move the boat back onto the beach two days later, unless they're only visiting for a week or two vacation (and accommodating those folks is one reason I'd like to hold it to one day). If a one day break turns out to be not enough disincentive, then two or even three days might be used. I recommend no more than four, but I'd like to see it tried first at the less restrictive one-day, and see how it works.

Fines may or may not pay for the program. If it works as intended, people will follow the rules and at most it will only cost a thousand a year. Towing the boats won't cost the Association anything, as the boat owner will pay for the tow or forfeit his boat. Just include a provision that allows the Association to sell or dispose of any boats which haven't been retrieved after 90 days.

That's it, my whole plan in a nutshell. I think if this is implemented and strictly enforced it will solve the shortage of parking spaces, making them available to everyone.