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Lake property owners urge county to back legal challenge to state wetlands rules; others support protections
Summary
Speakers at the legislature's public comment period urged the county to join litigation opposing recent freshwater wetlands rule changes that expand wetland designations around Chautauqua Lake; other commenters urged support for the regulations as lake protections.
Multiple speakers used the public comment period May 28 to press the county to take a position on recently amended freshwater wetlands regulations that expand mapped wetland areas and create upland buffers.
Jim Wirfritz, president of the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association, told the legislature volunteers and donors have funded legal work and asked the county to join as an amicus party in lawsuits challenging the state regulations. Wirfritz said the county and the lake rely on property tax revenues that could be affected if restrictions limit shoreline activity. "The Wetlands Amendment and regulations violate The United States, as well as the New York State Constitution," Wirfritz said, and he asked the legislature not to "ignore the opportunity to support our lawsuits as an amicus party."
Other speakers described the scale of the new designations and their effects. The public record at the meeting included claims that initial municipality requests for herbicide permits led to designations covering roughly 600 acres plus a 100‑foot buffer, and that more recent mapping extended wetland designations to about 2,500 additional acres and roughly 70% of shoreline to six‑foot water depth, which would impose restrictions extending up to 100 feet upland on private property.
John Jablonski, who identified himself as a long‑time lake steward and property owner, urged the county not to spend taxpayer dollars mounting a legal challenge and said the regulations protect lake health. "This law will ensure that if your neighbor is developing a new home, that they will ' make sure that you undertake development in a way that isn't gonna harm the lake," Jablonski said.
Speakers on both sides asked the legislature to act; some speakers said they had sought county engagement for more than a year. The legislature did not take a formal vote or adopt a resolution on the matter at the meeting. Several legislators signaled awareness and said they would continue to monitor the issue and constituent concerns.
