Shep Browns not renewing slip

[rick35]

Going back to the original post did they say what that means? There was a comment about rental activity but was that the reason they provided? With all those new boats I would think a new owner will need a slip. Are you getting bumped so someone else has a place to keep their new boat? Is Sales considered “marina operations”?

[MikeF-NH]

parking has become a huge problem at Sheps. There seem to be many long term trailer parkings in the upper lot and the lower lot is almost always full in early season. This began when the ramp become free so maybe its just more people launch there now that they can save $20...I was just shocked how crazy that place is coincidentally when launching became free.

Obviously Sheps won't invest any funds to improving parking (even though that also benefits their customers...a little. Since the town no longer draws revenue...I can see why they wouldn't pay to expand parking. Like other launches on the lake...it is becoming unusable after 9AM on weekends.

Now with slips disappearing...there will be an increased need for parking trailers etc by the island residents. I'm not sure what agency would be willing to bear the burden of another parking lot on the north side of Lovejoy Sands Rd.

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by MikeF-NH

parking has become a huge problem at Sheps. There seem to be many long term trailer parkings in the upper lot and the lower lot is almost always full in early season. This began when the ramp become free so maybe its just more people launch there now that they can save $20...I was just shocked how crazy that place is coincidentally when launching became free.

Parking has been a big problem at Lovejoy Landing for a long time: when the town was collecting a launch fee, before there was a launch fee, and obviously now during the summer season.

Obviously Sheps won't invest any funds to improving parking (even though that also benefits their customers...a little. Since the town no longer draws revenue...I can see why they wouldn't pay to expand parking. Like other launches on the lake...it is becoming unusable after 9AM on weekends.

Without a zoning variance or some kind of deal with the town, Sheps has no option to expand parking on land owned by the business, even if they were willing to spend the dollars to do so. They have already maxed out the allowable lot coverage (30%, I believe, in the Shoreline district).

Now with slips disappearing...there will be an increased need for parking trailers etc by the island residents. I'm not sure what agency would be willing to bear the burden of another parking lot on the north side of Lovejoy Sands Rd.

Last I knew, the vacant land on the north side of Lovejoy Sands Road is owned by Sheps, and as noted above, current zoning regulations do not allow the business to improve any more of their undeveloped land.

[radioman]

Tmi Guy, I suspect that you know exactly what i meant. Ask around.

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by radioman

Tmi Guy, I suspect that you know exactly what i meant. Ask around.

Nope; I don't know what you mean. I'm not in the Lakes Region right now, so it's hard for me to ask around, and besides, summer people who experience summer problems are long gone. If there's an issue, it should be addressed without delay. It's much better if neighbors talk things out and work together instead of letting problems, whether real or perceived, fester.

If you prefer not to discuss the issue on an open forum, I ask that you please at least send me a private message. Putting it out here on the forum that there is an issue regarding Three Mile Island traffic and then declining to explain to what you are referring doesn't do anyone any good.

[Cal Coon]

Originally Posted by TMI Guy

Nope; I don't know what you mean. I'm not in the Lakes Region right now, so it's hard for me to ask around, and besides, summer people who experience summer problems are long gone. If there's an issue, it should be addressed without delay. It's much better if neighbors talk things out and work together instead of letting problems, whether real or perceived, fester.

If you prefer not to discuss the issue on an open forum, I ask that you please at least send me a private message. Putting it out here on the forum that there is an issue regarding Three Mile Island traffic and then declining to explain to what you are referring doesn't do anyone any good.

Agreed. Come on radioman, I thought you didn't play games... (cough, cough)

[radioman]

Cal, Give me a call @ 603-707-6522 lots to say.

[rick35]

Originally Posted by radioman

Cal, Give me a call @ 603-707-6522 lots to say.

This is awkward. I get ticked with the TMI people when they park in the lower lot and when they block access to the dock but this sounds devious. But I remember how it used to be and I appreciate that they have their own lot.

[radioman]

Rick. yes this is a part of the issue

[bilproject]

This thread has taken a right turn from where it started which was a boat slip rental being cancelled. That being said, I would like to respond to the parking situation at Lovejoy Sands since I have spent most of the last year working on the issue for the Meredith Island Association.
First, the problem of parking at this location rests squarely on the shoulders of the Town of Meredith. No facilities that serve the islands have been improved over the last 35 years (new dock at Cattle Landing was a step backward). In the same time the town docks and parking were expanded and improved, a new police station built, and new community center built, now a new 7 million dollar public works building, and a renovation of the library soon to come. All funded by waterfront properties that are mostly seasonal and contribute about 40% of the Meredith tax revenue while causing almost no expenses to the town. I would submit that Meredith would look a lot different if were not for taxes collected from non-residents. Yet when it comes to improving waterfront facilities other than the town docks they cry poverty. A bit of a thumb in the eye don't you think. The town's fire boat has been out of service since early July due to a blown motor and the town could not find the money to repair it. They did however, find 35K to buy a used Parker that is called the Police boat but is primarily used to ferry the tax assessor and code enforcement office to the islands. You can see where the priorities are.
Second, the town facilities are public. This means that everyone including a tourist from Greenland has the right to use them on a first come first served basis. Thirty five years ago many families only owned one car and the typical lake boat was 20 feet or less long. Today we are more than likely to have one car for each driver in the family and we have 26' pontoons with an 8'4" beam. None of the current facilities were designed to handle todays situation.
Third, we can identify areas that we as users can possibly make the situation better until permanent solutions are found. AMC has done a good job at mitigating their contribution to the problem by purchasing and improving a piece of land into a parking facility for their members. They put into their rental packets instructions to park in their lot if space is available. I don't know if they canvas their guests to see if they followed the instructions, but if not that is possibly something they could do. We island residents who have slip parking could also have guests park in one of the downtown lots and pick them up there by car when we have large numbers of guests say on the 4th of July. We can also encourage our guest to bring the minimum number of vehicles to the lake particularly on the weekends.
The Meredith Island Association has identified vacant land the town could pursue that would increase available parking by about 3.5 acres. Is it as close to the dock as the current parking? No but it would make a great trailer and truck lot with the current trailer lot becoming car parking only. We have also discussed a resident permit parking only for cattle landing with possible future application to Lovejoy Sands if successful. Many spots are now taken up by Gilford property owners on Mark and Mink Islands. The association also supports the town moving forward with the engineer's recommendations on the parking lot and dock at Cattle Landing and the Docks at Lovejoy Sands. Rather than support an 8.5 million dollar parking garage we have encouraged them to pursue additional surface parking. When the parking garage and town dock niceties are removed from the engineer's proposals the price tag comes down to under 3 million. While this is a lot of money, had the town treated island taxpayers equally with residents it would have only cost $85,000 per year over the last 35 years. That's less than 10% of the tax dollars the town receives from unbridged island properties each year, and island residents are not the only ones using the facilities. Remember they are public.
To conclude, we need blame only one entity for the current situation and that entity is the Town of Meredith. So write the town manager and selectmen and express your anger over the current situation and ask them what they intend to do. They have a plan before them. If they were to support it with as much conviction as they did the police station, community center and public works building I am sure the town's residents would pass budgets to fund the improvements.

[radioman]

So well said, Thank you

[fatlazyless]

Originally Posted by bilproject

... since I have spent most of the last year working on the issue for the Meredith Island Association.

The Town of Meredith could possibly raise some revenue from cars and trailers parked at Lovejoy Sands and Cattle Landing parking lots by installing parking meters. Believe the City of Boston has many old, retired parking meters, charging 25-cents/15-minutes and are available.

Here's suggesting the Town of Meredith eventually purchase and conserve the beautiful, heavily wooded, 100-acre Camp Monotomy property into a community forest and community waterfront-swim/small boating area with NO motors allowed at the Camp Monotomy scenic waterfront, somewhat similar to the new Page Pond Community Forest.

What the Town of Meredith has built and created with their old historic Benjamin Smith library, their new police station, their new fire station, and their new community center is town money very, very well spent so three cheers for Meredith for their excellent library, police, fire, and community public buildings ...... hut-hut-hut-hut!



….. and, ditto all these sentiments for the new Meredith DPW facility …… so that's one more …… hut!

[Cal Coon]

Originally Posted by radioman

Cal, Give me a call @ 603-707-6522 lots to say.

Glad we talked, radioman. Thanks again for your time.

[Patofnaud]

Originally Posted by rick35

Going back to the original post did they say what that means? There was a comment about rental activity but was that the reason they provided? With all those new boats I would think a new owner will need a slip. Are you getting bumped so someone else has a place to keep their new boat? Is Sales considered “marina operations”?

My guess, like WoW did when it canceled slips, was to start floating more rentals. Marina's make a lot more money on rentals than they do on slip leases and folks who rent like having them in the water when they show up with their big gold card and not having to wait for the fork truck to slash it. Business is all. Rentals are big now.

[TiltonBB]

This is just speculation but it may have to do with sales. Many boat dealers on the lake are losing sales because people won't buy without a slip, and slips are like gold now. That was true in 2019 and I assume that 2020 will be no different

There is very little annual turnover and the sale and rental prices for slips are on the rise. Making more slips available may help dealers close more boat sales.

It may become the new normal that a dealer sells you a boat and rents you a slip and after one year tells you the slip is no longer available so that they can make room for next years sales.

[Descant]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

This is just speculation but it may have to do with sales. Many boat dealers on the lake are losing sales because people won't buy without a slip, and slips are like gold now. That was true in 2019 and I assume that 2020 will be no different

There is very little annual turnover and the sale and rental prices for slips are on the rise. Making more slips available may help dealers close more boat sales.

It may become the new normal that a dealer sells you a boat and rents you a slip and after one year tells you the slip is no longer available so that they can make room for next years sales.

I agree that, especially for boats that are too big for valet, slip availability may make or break the sale. We may reach that point with valet in some areas. Other lakes will have to pick up the slack where there really isn't a lot of commercial marina activity right now compared to Winnipesaukee. One thing that keeps the turnover viable is that used freshwater boats are in demand on the ocean where things are not as crowded yet. Perhaps we will see slips being rented at a premium for a week or two instead of by the year or season? Same for more boat club type ownership. Launch ramps for trailer boats already seem to be saturated. Where the state Fish and Game folks are trying to build new launch facilities, there is significant push back from locals. Witness Sunapee and Squam. Too bad that when zoning started in the 60's, towns just made all shorefront residential and did'n't add some commercial or mixed use.

[radioman]

And then there is the issue of 3Mi Island traffic.

[P-3 Guy]

Originally Posted by radioman

And then there is the issue of 3Mi Island traffic.

What is the issue?