Published: May 13, 2008 09:57 am         

State to city: Leave boaters alone

Traverse City -- City officials hit a snag, but haven't given up their efforts to limit boat access near the beaches of Grand Traverse Bay.

The city asked the state to establish "no-boat mooring" sections adjacent to swim areas on the east and west sides of Clinch Park Marina to drown out what they see are problems with a party atmosphere, noise, dumping of waste and potentially higher E. coli levels that come with numerous watercraft anchored near the beach.

But the local Department of Natural Resources doesn't want municipalities preventing access to state-owned waters.

City Manager Richard Lewis contacted DNR official Rodney Stokes in Lansing, who said boats are allowed as long as they're not creating any safety hazards. Conservation officers and other marine patrol officers are in place to correct individual wrongdoings, Stokes said.

Lewis' next step was applying for more swim areas along the shoreline near downtown.

Stokes hadn't seen the application, but said the city would have to make a good case for the demand of more swimming zones.

City officials previously said the current swim areas aren't overcrowded.

"If they're just doing it to stop the boaters from rafting off, I don't think that would be justification," Stokes said.

Traverse City resident and boater Loren Gardner is concerned about restricted boat spots.

"When you compact more boats into a smaller area, I'm not sure how that makes it safe," Gardner said. "Boaters have kids, boaters swim, and it seems like the city views it as if there's the general public and boaters ... they don't seem to be concerned with the safety of the boaters or boaters' kids."

Congestion already is the problem, said Commissioner Ralph Soffredine, who'd like to break up existing groups of boats that crowd the beaches.

Commissioner Deni Scrudato, who takes her boat on the bay, agrees.

"I would like to see us be able to have whatever-size swim areas we feel we need, and then have a buffer zone where there are no boats, because like (Mayor Michael Estes) said, they've got the whole bay and there's plenty of other shoreline, if that's what they want, further west," Scrudato said.

The downtown beaches are an attraction to boaters who want to take their kids in for ice cream or use the restroom, Gardner said.