Napa Valley Register
Wednesday 8/4/04
Letter to the Editor: Trailer Residents Don't Own Lake
Dear editor,
I grew up vacationing on Lake Tahoe. Every year, my family would rent space to park our RV and pitch a tent in the same resort. We had a wonderful time and I have great memories. That does not mean that I, or any other member of my family, have a right to occupy that spot at that resort. We rented a space, we never owned it. This is the very simple fact that the trailer owners at the resorts at Lake Berryessa refuse to acknowledge. They rent their space, they do not own it. They never have and they have known that from the beginning.
The trailers are an eyesore, they have exclusive use to the best shoreline on the lake and I don't agree that they contribute to our economy up here. If they did, why do we not have a decent grocery store or year-round restaurant, or even a place to buy gas outside of the overpriced marinas?
We own a home in Berryessa Highlands but, unlike the mobile home owners, we do not have exclusive use to any part of the lake. Like everyone else, we pay to launch our boat to enjoy this beautiful lake. We understand and accept that this is a public lake owned by the federal government. We know that we have no more right to the lake than anyone else who wishes to use it. Why in the world does someone who rents a space feel that because they have rented it for many years or that they have "fond memories of growing up at the lake" earns them special lifetime privileges?
This lake has incredible potential as a vacation destination. Alternative B will develop the lake to its highest and best use. This means revenue to support law enforcement and to improve and manage roads and services. It is imperative that this lake generate more income to support what is inevitable -- continued growth and use of the people who want to visit. And that everyone have the same rights. No more, no less.
Debra G. Healer
Berryessa Highlands ##
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Napa Valley Register
Tuesday 08/10/04
Letters to the Editor: Re: Lake Berryessa VSP (Status Quo)
Let the trailers stay
Dear editor,
This is in reply to Debra Healer's letter ("Trailer residents don't own lake," Aug. 4) about the trailer residents at Lake Berryessa. Saying they have exclusive use of the lakeshore is not true. There are spaces in the resorts for anyone to rent for a trailer and tent, just like you did at Lake Tahoe.
I go to Lake Berryessa Marina. They have beautiful family/group tent sites to rent right next to the water. There are lovely spots to rent for those that tow a trailer. You can launch your boat for free at Capell Cove. You can picnic for free at Smittle Creek or Oak Shores, both of which have plenty of parking, picnic tables and bathrooms. The trailers that you see as eyesores I see as comfortable weekend get-aways that show individuality.
And one last thing: If all the people that own the trailers are forced to leave them, what do you think they will do on weekends then? Stay home? No, they will buy a travel trailer and be on the roads going to the campgrounds. So instead of packing up the car with stuff for the weekend they will be driving big gas hogs pulling big trailers clogging the roads. I say let the trailers stay.
Carol Boykin
Napa ##
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Napa Valley Register
Tuesday 08/10/04
Letters to the Editor: Re: Lake Berryessa VSP (Change)
Trailer owners had time to plan
Dear editor,
Despite reports to the contrary, redevelopment plans for Lake Berryessa are on track for a decision late this year or early next.
The trailer owners and some of the concessionaires continue to complain as though they owned the land and the government was trying to take it away from them. They are tenants. When a lease expires, tenants remove their property and vacate the premises. This is not theft. It is not stealing. It is not appropriation.
In fact, the government is required to pay for any buildings it wishes to retain. However, a report by consultants has indicated that, in general, there is little useful life left in most of the facilities.
It's not like there hasn't been time to plan. As far back as 1980, Congress adopted a public law that said the concession contracts at Lake Berryessa could not be renewed beyond 2008-2009.
The new Web site by "Citizens to Protect Lake Berryessa," festooned with digitally waving American flags and exhortations to "Join us in protecting our Lake," is just another effort by the trailer owners to retain their exclusive sites. As are the threats of litigation. The organized trailer owners reported to their own group that they were advised they had no legal claims.
The government itself expresses the situation best when it explains that the redevelopment project is needed "to correct over four decades of resort operations under which prime recreational areas have been reserved for long-term trailer site permittees, to the exclusion of the majority of visitors to Lake Berryessa."
Carol Kunze
Lake Berryessa Change |
