The recent revisions by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District rules and regulations for the Great Sacandaga Lake will have far-reaching impacts, affecting the entire Sacandaga region, not just permit holders. It will be devastating.
Before it was renamed the Great Sacandaga Lake, it was the Sacandaga Reservoir. Before that, it was people's homes, farms and their livelihoods. It is not a natural lake. It is artificial. This distinction is important because the DEC is attempting to make our shoreline into a "natural area" with no mowing of grass, no picnic tables, no portable johns at our town beaches, etc. People cut hay, cleared fields, built homes and had picnics long before New York state flooded their lands, built the dam and made an artificial reservoir. It is disingenuous to propose such activities be banned.
If these revisions go into effect, the town of Mayfield will no longer be able to operate its town beach. The entire shoreline of the lake will be one big public beach. When all the non-permit holders start using what was formerly beaches for the exclusive use of the permit holder, down the slippery slope we all go.
All permit holders' property values will plummet. Where we homeowners and businesses have invested our time, labor and money will now be overrun by strangers. There will be parties, bonfires and garbage left behind. The currently well-cared-for shorelines will serve as the bathroom for all these non-permit holders and their dogs. In such close proximity to our homes and businesses, vandalism and home break-ins will follow. I feel certain the DEC and HRBRRD have no contingencies or funding to handle the ensuing mess.
Who is liable if and when these non-permit holders are injured?
This is a lose-lose situation with no redeeming value.
KATHY SIEG
Gloversville