The City of McCall will allow watercraft concessionaires to use once again Legacy Beach on Payette Lake as the launching and returning point for personal watercraft rentals next summer.
The McCall City Council voted unanimously last week to allow city staffers to negotiate agreements with concessionaires to use the beach just south of the city's boat ramps located adjacent to Mile High Marina.
The practice of allocating Legacy Beach for the use of private personal watercraft business raised concern among residents who spoke at a public hearing earlier this fall before the McCall Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.
"As a rule, I think we found that some of the issues were confused as to actually what we were looking to get comments on," Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee Chair Kevin Briem said.
"A lot of opponents came out about jet ski use on the lake, and opponents to jet ski use on the lake and really that is not what this is about."
The public hearing was intended to gather comment on the use of Legacy Beach for personal watercraft concessionaires to rent to people recreating in McCall.
"We've had jet ski rentals there for several years," Briem said. "And there really wasn't a whole lot said about it for about 10 years."
The committee began to ponder putting controls on the process two years ago, Briem said.
"With that, we have opened the gates and now it has become a relatively contentious issue," he said. "There is a need for the public to understand that there is a quality to the lake and there is also a need for recreation and that particular spot may not be the best spot, but sadly enough that's one of the few spots that we have that that particular operation can operate from."
The committee also evaluated several other possible options other than Legacy Park, but found all the city's property adjacent to the lake to be unsuitable for the use of personal watercraft for various reasons ranging from inadequate parking to inadequate beach space, Briem said.
"We do want local residents and the city council to know that we will continue to investigate alternate locations for recreational concessionaire use," the committee said in a letter to council.
"Until then, we are recommending a one-year conditional use permit and are proposing more stringent rules for jet ski concessionaires."
Those rules include a minimum age for renters, limited hours of operation, restricted use of the launch ramps and concessionaire fees consistent with the fees charged by the Ponderosa State
Park and other recreational areas, the letter said.
The council approved the use proposal without discussion.
