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7/20/2007
Riverfront access - at what price?
Appleton residents, you are giving away the waterfront for the exclusive use of boaters and social drinkers.
And the majority of the Common Council and the mayor are complicit in your giveaway of this prime gateway to the city.
The controversy is over the membership-only Appleton Yacht Club (some would use that term loosely) – sitting on the riverfront east of Lutz Park, for about 75 years. The Club is on land owned by the City – and the improvements on the land are owned by the Club. What a mess.
Mike Marx, Vice-Commodore of the Club, and a Grand Chute resident, believes the club has a right to the land because of that 75-year history and also, as he asserts, because the Club “filled in a swamp to create the land the clubhouse now sits on.” Ok, they supposedly “created” some of the land – but it’s land the city owns. (And believe me, the story’s a lot more complicated than there’s room to add here.)
So the Yacht Club has leased the approximately 750 feet of river frontage from the city for these 75 years (most of it at $1 a year) – and now are renegotiating the lease with the city.
Alderperson Ed Baranowski says the lease is the result of a “lot of politics” and is, plain and simple, a “bad business deal” for the residents of Appleton. Alderperson Jeff Jirschele believes the root of the problem is “using public land for the exclusive use of boaters and a social club.” Jirschele points out that if a nonmember (much less an Appleton taxpayer) goes to the front door of the Club, they won’t be granted admission. If they come to the Club via a boat, they’re welcome to partake of the tavern environs as long as desired.
The proposed lease is $750 a month and minimal (and essentially undocumented) maintenance requirements. (Baranowski calls the place an eyesore.) Bad business deal for a jewel of a spot on the river. It’s a sellout. Public not welcome (unless you pay a membership of $200 a year).
In the interest of offering alternative solutions, the City could:
- Aggressively negotiate a more favorable lease.
- Find a commercial entity with a viable business plan to operate a quality public marina and tavern.
- Buy the improvements from the Yacht Club.
Nice people at the Yacht Club, keeping watch over the river (and the park, for that matter). But they have exclusive use of prime riverfront land with very little accountability to the city. I’ll say it again. It’s a mess. And somebody’s got to pull the pieces together, lead the city through a very complex puzzle, and find a win-win for users of the riverfront, boaters and Appleton taxpayers.
COMMENTS
This Yacht Club issue has been around for going on three years. Wonder if the mayor has spent ten minutes trying to broker a solution. I doubt it.
You hit the nail (or at least one of the nails) on the head. JE
tom drummond (Fri Jul 20 08:56:35 2007)
Hi Jo, I take issue with the use of the term 'exclusive.' I can't regard $200 per year as exclusive, given that most people spend twice that annually on cable or four times that on their cell phone. Butte Des Morts Country Club - now there's exclusive pricing. Is that the kind of development we want? If so, don't expect the membership to be $200 per year. Our 'Yacht' club is a bargain that any boater can afford. Thank you Jo, for giving us such a terrific forum to debate these issues!
Well Brian, the point about exclusivity is that one must cough up the $200 before one is allowed in the front door. I'm talking "limited to a use by a single individual or group" - as opposed to "snobbishly aloof." Snobbishly aloof the Yacht Club ain't. Good bunch of folks. Thanks Brian and thanks Mr. Webster. JE
Brian Murray (Fri Jul 20 09:51:49 2007)
When I first read this article, I thought to myself, "Funny, I feel the same way about country clubs and golf courses." With this and the Appleton West sports complex situation, I don't know why everyone feels like their use of a particular piece of land is infinitely more worthy than someone else's, and they should just be able to charge right in and displace others at will.
According to Mike Marx at the Yacht Club, they've never turned away any non-member who wants to walk in the door and enjoy the bar or make use of the facilities. I've heard him interviewed on several occasions stating this fact.
Have you tried going to the yacht club and were turned away for not being a member?
I've never been there because I have no personal desire to boat or drink, but I don't feel like it's a terrible waste of land because there's nothing there I want to make use of. I'm sure whatever develops there would be of as little use to me as well. If it's a restaurant, I'm sure being on the waterfront it will be priced way out of my range. If it's apartments or condos, there's no way I'd be able to afford to live there. What good is that to me?
Good points that you make. Mike Marx told me one couldn't gain admittance as a non-member unless coming in off the water. I've not tried the land route, except as a guest..
Mark (Fri Jul 20 12:51:42 2007)
Jo, you said:
"Find a commercial entity with a viable business plan to operate a quality public marina and tavern."
This topic is of major interest to me and I hope the discussion continues.
But the suggestion you give sounds a lot like privatization of a piece of riverfront.
I, for one, have seen what that has done in other communities in the Valley. Putting up 3-4 story buildings on the riverbank diminishes the natural view of the river and this, over the long term, trumps the value added revenue from any possible tax collection.
Up in Egg Harbor (or related town in Door County) the city bought back a piece of beach front that was scheduled to be developed into a new eyesore for the many and private residence for a few.
No one likes 'exclusivity.' As a cab driver, I've had the experience of trying simply gain entrance to the Yacht Club to pick up a fare (let them know I had arrived) and finding a locked door with no window. It was like being at a speakeasy.
But the YC is a fixture of the community. It is picturesque in its way. But whether it and its members are giving a fair shake to the city is another issue.
Lon Ponschock (Fri Jul 20 13:29:17 2007)
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