Senator Lee Schoenbeck is going to have a lot more drinking buddies at Lake Kampeska. KELO-TV reports on the construction of Stony Point, which will place a 46-unit condo, swim-up bar (I didn’t know swimming and beer mixed), pool, restaurant, fiteness center, salon, hotel, convention center, bowling alley, mechanical bull, batting cages, and newly dug hundred-boat marina. Why on earth wouldn’t lake residents want such development?
The owners and developers say this is just the beginning. They plan to add another 60 condos in the future.
While there was some push back by lake residents, who thought it might get too busy… others like Gary Weckwerth, who’s had a place here since 2004, loves it.
“I’m not worried about it I like the activity…. I didn’t understand why there wasn’t more development here,” Weckwerth said.
“There’s so much potential, it’s a beautiful lake there’s a lot of developed property here; good homes, it’s a fun lake and it’s close to a lot of things.”
Lawrence says with every nail and board, work is progressing and attitudes are changing.
“Now that people are seeing it, they’re really jumping on board, the lake is coming back it’s incredibly clear this year, we are excited about the progress and we’re hoping that’ll continue,” Lawrence said.
“Overall we’ve had great support from the city and as far as the residents and everybody, yeah it’s good,” Drake said [Don Jorgenson, “Lake Kampeska Comes to Life,” KELO-TV, 2021.08.26].
Weckwerth and other development-crazed Kampeskans evidently haven’t spoken to folks down at Lake Madison, who are concerned that piling 104 homes and a private recreational area on a rare bare strip of lake front on the northeast side of Lake Madison could overburden roads and emergency services:
Residents of the Wicklow Hills development, which is located within the proposed Zimmermann Landing, presented a letter and expressed their concerns, including resident Tim Kenyon.
Kenyon said the residents are also concerned about the lakefront lot size of 50-feet that is being proposed by the developer for lots north of Wicklow Hills. He said that the residents are also concerned about the county’s road in the area of the development – 461st Avenue – which is in poor shape already and will only be made worse by the increased traffic load on it.
Wentworth Fire Chief Terry Reck told commissioners that adding 104 homes to the area is a big concern, especially with water supply.
Reck said that the volunteers in his department also provide emergency medical services to that area and is concerned how much of a strain that will put on them.
Matt Bock, an attorney for the Scully family, told commissioners that they are aware of the number of concerns there are with the development and they are working through those. He said that the preliminary plat meets all of the minimum requirements of the county’s ordinances [staff, “County Approves First Step in New Lake Madison Development Planning,” KJAM Radio, retrieved 2021.08.27].
Hey, sure, as long as we meet minimum requirements, why not further exploit our lakes? Why not make sure every foot of lakeshore is fenced off for the exclusive enjoyment of the highest bidders?
I know, I’m shouting into the wind of capitalist progress, which sounds a lot like jet-skis. But part of the value of our lakes is that they don’t look like Watertown or Sioux Falls or the Okoboji to which the Stony Point developers compare their project. Part of the value of our lakes is the places they offer where you can paddle out in your canoe and see not a bunch of McMansions but bare ground, grass and trees, a patch of sand where you and anyone else can pull up and sit for a while and enjoy the quiet. That quiet is a big part of lake living, and country living. But I guess that’s the attitude that the developers need us to change.
“It’s incredibly clear, this year.” Bwaaaaaaa Haaaaa Haaaaaaaa
No it isn’t.
Kampeska is just like it always was.
You gauge the direction and velocity of the wind to determine which side the waves are less verdant.
PS … I’ve followed this Lake KamPesky project since day one.
For the life of me, it smells like a time share hustle.
Well..I see this dense development happening on these shallow, eutropic lakes
(lakes that “turn over” and get green every year) and its a case of people loving the lakes to death. Kampeska is clearer than usual this year because of the drought….ag run off is not entering the lake in the usual volume. Water quality depends on shoreline quality…the worst neighbor for a lake is a perfectly groomed lawn of fertilized, weedless, Kentucky Blue grass.
Lake Kampeska, Lake Poinsett, Lake Mitchell, Lake Thompson and other non-meandered bodies of water will continue to suffer the effects of human-caused climate distortions but disaster declarations are how Republicans who preach small gubmint fund crumbling infrastructure in red states. Recall Rep. Kristi Noem repeatedly voted against disaster aid after Hurricane Sandy and other climate related catastrophes but she doesn’t respect self-reliance because she’s wedded to moral hazard.
I spent the better part of one winter in a cabin with a view of frozen Lake Kampesk. I doubt they would want a picture of that view on their promotional brochure.
Lake Kampeska is a group soup of filth, just like Lakes Poinsett and Madison.
Ish.
Exactly, Bill.
A condo on the lake in January?
How ‘ya gonna get to the grocery/whiskey store?
The drifts over the driveway are eleven feet deep and the wind is blowing at a steady 25 mph.
Well, (as the person calling themself Arlo Blundt begins every post) you can sell anything to a MAGA.