Housing dilemma

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Jun 01, 2003 | by McAlpine, Linda

Wayne Kulcinski gladly trades seasonal flooding, high maintenance and strict regulation for the beauty of the sunset and wildlife he sees from the deck of his Copeland Park boathouse on the Black River.

Kulcinski, a LaCrosse native who grew up to love its many waterways, bought the 15-foot-by-18-foot boathouse from a friend back in 1961. It was moved to its present location in the 1970s.

"There used to be a lot more boathouses here, but at one point the city wanted to get rid of them, so many were hauled ashore, smashed up and taken away," he said from a lawn chair on the back deck of his watery digs on a recent sunny afternoon.

"I guess what some people see as unique, others see as eyesores," he mused as he watched a pair of ducks land just a few feet away.

It would seem the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources holds the latter opinion of boathouses.

In the late 1970s, a law was passed stating that no new boathouses could be built, existing boathouses couldn't be relocated, and that repair or maintenance costs could not exceed 50 percent of the value of the boathouse, according to Dave Pericak, water management specialist with the DNR office in La Crosse.

"The goal of the law is to eventually get rid of them," Pericak said, adding that his office has a file on each boathouse, and that photos are taken annually to make sure there has been no violation of the law when it comes to repairs or maintenance.

There used to be five times as many as the 123 current boathouses in La Crosse County, Pericak said.

He said boathouses infringe on the public's right to the waterway.

"It's an issue of the public vs. private

rights to use the river. Everyone has the right to use it," he said.

Pericak also cited concerns about floating debris in the river, noting that some of it comes from the boathouses.

"They are a littering concern," he said. "In the spring, the public ends up cleaning up the river."

Kulcinski took issue with the idea that boathouse owners are to blame for the trash that shows up with the spring high water.

"Most of us keep our places up. We don't want any of our barrels floating down the river," said Kulcinski, noting that his boathouse rests on about 50 large plastic barrels.

Boathouse owners also tend to keep up the shoreline, trimming weeds back and keeping any beach space tidy, Kulcinski said.

Across the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources takes a different view of boathouses.

"We used to have a set of regulations that did have the intent of phasing out boathouses, including the provision that repairs could be made up to 50 percent of the value," said Bill Huber, hydrologist in the Rochester office of the Minnesota DNR. "We found that the regulations just weren't working, so they were changed by legislation in 1997."

Current regulations still prohibit building new boathouses, but repairs to existing ones can be made as long as they don't change the size of the structure," he said.

There are about 150 boathouses in Houston County, and about the same number in Winona County, Huber said.

"They tend to be a mixed bag" when it comes to upkeep, he added.

The every-weekend user tends to keep a boathouse in a good state of repair compared with someone who is just an occasional user, Huber said.

Kulcinski, a retired tool and die maker, said he enjoys spending time in his neat, gray boathouse with black trim.

Though small, it features many of the conveniences of home.

"There is a microwave, refrigerator, camp stove, gas grill, ceiling fan, stereo, television, VCR and a phone," he said, moving inside to sit at a table surrounded by chairs in the center of the boathouse. Along one wall is a couch and a bed.

And yes, there is a chemical toilet aboard.

"I usually stay here all summer and into late fall. I also come down in the winter to check on it," Kulcinski said.

Rather than being nuisances, Kulcinski said, he and his neighboring boathouse owners probably are an asset to Copeland Park.

"I think we help make the park safer, because it seems there is always someone here," and that's a deterrent, he said.

With the start of the season for the new Loggers baseball team at the park, Kulcinski said, Copeland Park boathouse owners have some concerns of their own.

"I think the new team and the new stadium will be a wonderful thing, but where will everyone park for a game?" he said.

But parking, rude boaters and DNR regulations are all forgotten, Kulcinski said, when evening starts to settle in on the river after a day

spent fishing or just relaxing on the water.