Black Lake gate stays

COEUR d'ALENE - A recently-placed gate blocking a driveway to a Kootenai County-owned lot at Black Lake will stay put.

County Commissioner Jai Nelson said the board discussed the public access issue Monday, and it was presented with information by a county surveyor.

The county lot has 90 feet of lakefront and is on the south end of Black Lake just off Anderson Drive. The lake is in the Chain Lakes area east of Harrison.

"The county does not have a legal easement on this neighboring property," Nelson said. "The previously used private road is no longer available to the public."

Property owners immediately north of the county lot installed the gate, and The Press reported on the dispute between area property owners that followed.

"The recently-placed gate does not interfere with the use dedicated to the public," Nelson said.

She said walk-in and boat-in access to the lot remains.

"It was indicated that walk-in access to this public parcel is more difficult because of the grade change between the public access road and the lower area near the waterfront," Nelson said.

She said the commissioners directed the Parks and Waterways department staff members to continue to investigate a way to improve walk-in access, and to look at options for enhancing and potentially expanding access to Black Lake.

Nelson said a follow-up meeting in a few weeks should be conducted.

"Public access to waterfront is one of my top priorities," Nelson said.

James and Kimberly Rae Cornelius, who purchased the property next to the county lot one year ago, installed the gate last month.

Kimberly said Wednesday she was told by Nick Snyder, the county's director of Parks and Waterways, that it's within their rights to install a gate.

She said the commissioners, a county attorney, a county surveyor and Snyder got together and reviewed the documents of record regarding the properties.

"(Snyder) went further to say there was not a person in the room that would not have done the same thing in our shoes," she wrote in an email Wednesday.

The Corneliuses own the property that was previously the Black Lake Resort.