Veteran stuck during dock flap

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

HAYDEN LAKE — An 81-year-old veteran is in a battle with the Idaho Department of Lands over his dock on Hayden Lake while trying to sell his property.

"We’ve never been made aware of anything until we were about to finalize on selling our house," said Rick Borlase, who is trying to downsize after his wife, Sandy, just had a knee replacement. "There’s never been anybody even come look at it. That’s what upsets me."

Borlase said his house sale recently fell through after it hit a snag when IDL told him his dock is noncompliant because a previous owner extended it more than 30 years ago. Borlase bought the home 26 years ago.

"IDL never said a word about (the dock) in 1992 when I bought the house," Borlase said.

Borlase has tapped attorney John Magnuson to raise red flags on IDL’s enforcement.

"The minor modification to the dock was done by a prior owner without Mr. Borlase’s knowledge," Magnuson said. "The rule relied upon by IDL — that the modification of a grandfathered encroachment causes a loss of all grandfathered status — was adopted well after the prior owner made the modification."

IDL has the authority to grant variances on a case-by-case basis where it can be justified by site-specific considerations such as the distance to the established line of navigability. But in a Feb. 13 response to Magnuson, Frank Waterman, IDL’s Mica and Cataldo Area manager, said he did not believe a variance is warranted.

"The Mica Area office believes the best and most expedient way to move forward is for Mr. Borlase to submit an application along with the $300 fee showing how the dock will be brought into compliance with today’s standards …" Waterman wrote. He added that regulations specify no hard cover and no more than 700 square feet of total dock space.

Waterman wrote that if a variance is requested with the application, it could take up to 105 days to obtain a decision from IDL Director Tom Schultz.

Waterman said IDL first became aware of the dock issues when a title company representing Borlase contacted IDL, asking whether a permit for the dock existed.

“After gathering past records on the property, we discovered the dock on his property was never permitted and had been altered after 1974 when the Lake Protection Act was enacted," Waterman said in a written response to The Press.

Waterman said the dock does not comply with the standards because it is oversized with a covered slip. IDL has not conducted an on-site inspection of the dock or his neighbors’, nor has it issued Borlase a notice of non-compliance, he said.

"We are still in the fact-finding stage … and we want to work with Mr. Borlase to bring his dock into compliance with the law," he said.

Borlase, who served in the Air Force from 1956 to 1960, said bringing his dock into compliance would cost between $25,000 and $35,000.

"IDL wants the whole dock taken out and replaced with a new smaller dock," Magnuson said. "They also want the hard cover over his slip removed that has been there for at least 43 years."

Magnuson said if the single-family dock was such a big problem, one would have thought IDL would have raised a red flag at some point over the past 30 years both before and during Borlase’s ownership.

However, Waterman said that with about 11,000 active encroachment permits statewide, IDL does the best it can with the resources it has to inspect for non-compliant docks.

"We always follow up on inquiries or complaints about docks that may not comply with the Lake Protection Act…" he said.

Waterman said IDL encourages lakefront owners and prospective buyers to check with the agency to make sure encroachments on lakes comply with Idaho law.

In the meantime, Borlase is on hold trying to sell his home, and his hopes of having a new one built have been postponed.

"I’m between a rock and a hard place," he said. "Here I sit."

Magnuson said he believes IDL is treating its constituents unequally. He said you only have to look as far as next door to see it.

"(The neighbor’s) dock is as seemingly nonconforming as Mr. Borlase’s dock, yet it would appear that nothing is being done to him," said Magnuson, citing an aerial photo of the properties. "IDL appears to be taking a new approach that looks more like California than Idaho."