Land Purchase Makes Lake Zoar Marina More Accessible

By Kendra Bobowick

An empty one-acre lot possessing only an old foundation and a canopy of trees is the key to improving public access to Eichler’s Cove — a formerly private marina and boat launch along Lake Zoar. The Board of Selectmen, Legislative Council, and Planning and Zoning Commission have all approved the purchase for $250,000, said First Selectman Herb Rosenthal.

The acre abuts the marina’s current entranceway and will broaden access to the roughly 10-acre cove tucked away at the end of a narrow country lane. Pickup trucks and SUVs hauling trailers and speedboats now thread their way along Old Bridge Road toward the launch.

Assistant Director of Parks Carl Samuelson noted that the area is a difficult spot to navigate and the new parcel will allow for an exit, while the end of the current road will serve as an entrance only.

“We want a specific in and a specific out so boats and trucks and trailers aren’t backing in and out,” he said. “It creates safe and efficient passage in and out.”

Traffic flow is just a small part of the possibilities Mr Samuelson envisions. “Our goal really is to make a park out of Eichler’s. [The parcel] allows us to make more of a park out of the new marina…” Along the cove’s shores is an open lawn, parking area, and a small beach and launch. Mr Samuelson said the additional acre opens possibilities.

“This allows us to separate the park from the parking,” Mr Samuelson said. “The acquisition allows us to use the lakefront for a park and space to create a beach — we would have had to use so much of the property for parking without the acquisition.”

The rural, hidden marina served boaters last season, but sunbathers’ footprints never trailed across the small, sandy beach toward the few picnic tables scattered on the lawn. Mr Samuelson said, “We want to have swimming and picnicking, but it’s hard to envision with cars on top of it all…”

The one-acre lot is a preapproved building lot, said Mr Rosenthal, which also plays a part in the purchase.

“It was the only parcel there and someone could have bought and built on it,” he said. He also felt that a private residence next to a public marina/recreation area could pose problems.

Mr Rosenthal said, “You do get conflicts,” based on his experience with other properties.

He had known the parcel was for sale and also knew that the recreation department felt Old Bridge Road was too narrow.

“It’s small, but it will enhance,” he said. “I don’t think it will widen tremendously.”

Mr Samuelson also noted that aside from the primary parcel along the left side of Old Bridge Road is another sliver of land across the street that can serve as a “staging” area for boats waiting to launch Mr Samuelson said.

Eichler’s Cove, tucked into a quiet spot along Lake Zoar at the bottom of Route 34 bordering Monroe, opened a boat launch, small picnic area, and boat slips to the public last season. A small beach is also nestled along the cove’s shores, but awaits improvements. This past summer saw the first public access to both a boat launch and small marina at the formerly private inlet, which town officials also hope to open up to swimmers next season. The Eichler’s Cove Marina, at the very end of the narrow, winding Old Bridge Road, is the only public property along Lake Zoar. Since Dickinson Pond was bulldozed and filled in this past spring, officials hope to make some improvements to the beach area at Eichler’s Cove.

Mr Samuelson anticipates that work to clear the lot and enlarge the beach will produce “something tangible” by next year. The work for clearing the land and revegitating the lakeside will be done by Parks and Rec and Public Works, he said. A change in boating fees may also bring more activity to the cove.

No one purchased a seasonal boat launch pass for the steep fee of $350 for Eichler’s Cove last season. The Parks and Recreation Commission recently set the coming season’s boat launch fee at $100 for Eichler’s Cove and raised Lake Lillinona’s fee to $100 from $45. A dual seasonal pass is $150. Also, Lake Lilinonah’s launch entrance will be gated, and only accessible to pass-holders due to previous problems at the launch.

Mr Samuelson said, “The gate system offers assurances to pass holders that only pass-holders will be using [the launch] during the week,” he said. Neighborhood residents had complained that many of the cars clogging the lot during the week did not have passes.

Mr Samuelson said, “People were not purchasing passes because there was no one monitoring in the week.” He also explained that his department “had no way to police it.”