On June 5, 2012 by a vote of 2-1 the Board of Garrett County Commissioners adopted a text amendment to the Deep Creek Lake Watershed Zoning Ordinance to establish a new use category of "Boat Rental As A Separate Service Business" on the lake. The Board of County Commissioners accepted and approved their Finding of Facts in support of the text amendment on June 28, 2012. The text amendment authorizes a new use as follows:

"157.024(C)23 - Boat rental including boat rides and/or boat tours as a separate service business and not offering any other services associated with a marina."

          "Boat rental" includes rental of Personal Water Craft or PWCs. This new use is permitted in Town Center and Commercial zoning districts, and permitted by special exception in Town Residential and Commercial Resort 1 and 2 zoning districts. This means that permits will be granted in the Town Center and Commercial zoning districts as a matter of right, and permitted only after special exception application and public hearing in the Town Residential and Commercial Resort 1 and 2 zoning districts.   A marina is required to have a minimum of 2 acres of land, while the new use requires a minimum of 10,000 square feet of land. Both uses require a commercial dock permit from the Department of Natural Resources. To date one permit to operate a PWC rental and boat ride business has been granted under this amendment in the Town Center zoning district to an applicant who proposed the amendment.

            Legal actions have been filed by some marina owners challenging this amendment. The POA is not a party to those legal actions. .

            Last week, the Board of Directors of the Deep Creek Property Association (POA) designated a Board member to meet with the county's Director of Planning and Land Development and the DNR Lake Manager about this matter. Then we held a special conference call meeting to discuss it. Based on our information so far, it appears that the legal requirements as to public notice and hearing were followed, and we are confident that all involved acted in good faith.

However, some members of the POA, and some members of the Board of Directors, have concerns about the process used in adopting this amendment to the DCL Watershed Zoning Ordinance, including (1) that the speed with which the ordinance was amended did not allow the sufficient time to consider the potential impact upon the lake, and therefore the scope and impact of the amendment is unknown, (2) that there should have been more coordination between local officials and state officials responsible for the management of the lake, and (3) that while land use regulations are designed to cover land matters, in this case what happens on the land has an impact on the waters of Deep Creek Lake.

            Therefore, we are going to invite the 3 County Commissioners, Director of Planning and Land Development, and the DNR Lake Manager to attend our August 18, 2012 Board of Directors meeting to explain and discuss this matter further.

            Through a series of workshops and meetings over the past year and a half the POA Board of Directors has been working diligently to bring together all local and state agencies responsible for Deep Creek Lake so that lake management can be conducted in a more comprehensive fashion. We are trying to end the multi-fractured approach to addressing issues that impact on the lake. We hope to take a positive and constructive step toward this goal at our August 18 Board meeting.