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July 8, 2004
By JOHN CHARLES ROBBINS
Staff writer
An old and haphazard network of docks on Lake Macatawa, a fixture on the north shore for 50 years, is being torn out this
week.
The demolition work is the first example of the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Department initiating its management
of the Park 12 properties.
At the area where dead-end Black Lake Avenue juts off Ottawa Beach Road, people in cars, on bikes and on foot have been
stopping to watch the work.
This area will become the first sliver of new public access to Lake Macatawa.
The site is one of 12 parcels owned by the county in the area near Ottawa Beach, a century-old resort community dotted
with cottages near Holland State Park in Park Township.
For decades the land and docks were off-limits to the public, as nearby cottagers and others planted more pilings and
decking and claimed the area their own.
"That's a huge goal of ours, to give the public their waterfront back," said John Scholtz, parks manager.
Removal of the aging docks, just east of the U.S. Coast Guard station, is considered the first phase of the Park 12 master
plan, adopted by the county earlier this year.
On Wednesday, two hulking rusted barges sat side-by-side just offshore, cradled by worn and faded tractor tires.
On one, a large red crane whirred and moaned as it pulled out the pilings like bad teeth. On the other, a bucket loader
nosily rumbled across the barge on steel cleats and plucked the freed pilings floating in the water.
A worker in a hard-hat fired up a chainsaw and halved the pilings so they would fit into large yellow trash containers.
While the county's exercise of its managerial muscle has upset some cottage owners, others who live nearby see the benefit
of cleaning up this area.
"I think it will improve the looks of the waterway," said Carol Voss, who, with her husband, Jack, own a condo
at Summer Place, a couple of blocks east of the demolition site.
Gesturing toward the water where the dock removal has begun, Voss said, "It's a junk hole."
The spot will one day include a new fishing pier and the start of a boardwalk running west to the state park.
"This will be a good improvement," said Voss, who was out for an afternoon bike ride.
As soon as the old docks are history, the parks staff will descend on the land and clean up the rest of the area cutting
brush, mowing grass, removing an old shed used by the boaters as a bathroom and storage shed, capping a well and other chores.
Scholtz said the decking was removed a couple of weeks ago by The King Co. of Holland, hired to dismantle the docks for
$44,700.
Removal of the pilings had to wait until after July 1, for fish spawning, as conditioned in a permit from the state Department
of Natural Resources.
The piling work should be done soon.
"They ought to be able to knock it out in a week or so," Scholtz said.
He's hopeful improvements to the area can begin next summer, which are to include shoreline restoration, a gated half-oval
parking lot for 28 vehicles, and a new picnic area.
The parks department wants to get the Ottawa County Circuit Court to endorse the Park 12 master plan. The court has heard
several disputes over the years between the cottage owners and the county and state.
While much of the litigation involving the area has come and gone, the circuit court retained oversight authority of the
Park 12 properties.
When the county board of commissioners adopted the master plan in May, it directed the parks department's attorney to
present the plan to the circuit court for review.
No court hearings are scheduled at this time, Scholtz said, and the review may not occur until this fall.
Contact John Charles Robbins at (616) 546-4269 or john.robbins@hollandsentinel.com.
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