I’m not familiar with Baldwin County-but from this picture it doesn’t look like much is around the area. Is this a dead end road? Are the homes right next to where the launch will be,or a ways up the road? Most launches have slow wake zones to keep the wake from residential property anyway,and polite boaters are respectful of others property,etc. At least we are. As to the wildlife issues, Big Creek Lake boat launch and the one up in Creola all have PLENTY of wildlife,it has not effected surrounding homes,etc.

i would be as well but land use down there is and has been so convuluted down there for 50 years with people taking over streets or planned streets that never actually materialized but were still turned over to the county, it has just made it a real mess. hopefully, like ick said, open a bait shop, and turn lemons into lemonaide. maybe limit the hours its open like the other parks.

Did they have to change zoning to make this happen?  If I built a home on a river next to private residential property, I would also be put out by a new park large enough to accommodate 150 boats, trailers and trucks in my front yard.

Looks like some type of compromise could be reached.

i thought it was public access bob, in which case the answer would have been no, but with the story a few posts back i dont know. everyone wants one f these faciliteis just not in thier own back yards! me either.

Could all the home owners in the area pitch in and buy the property?

i smell a river rat. talk with the FBI i don’t think they are turning there heads the other way now-a-days for some reason.

Okay folks, here is the story.
The waterfront part of this property belonged to my father in law at one time.  I will not go into the detail of why it is still not in the family but lets say evil step mother.  The man who bought the property went bankrupt and the property had to be sold.  The county came in and bought it up before it was even put on the open market.
My mother in law still has the other four acres of the original eight acres of property and is now worried about her access to the property and what the park is going to do to her already declining property values.
About 200 yard up the creek is an old boat launch that is not in use and this is for sale.  But the county would have had to pay fair market value for the property instead of the steal they got for this.
BTW, this is not a case of public access.  The public access area there has a nice boardwalk down to the creek there.

Could they do a series of smaller boat launches along the river instead of turning this one spot into such a large endeavor?

people have lied and hidden state accesses down there for years. one had even built a swimming pool on state land. the beach isnt so bad, but waterfront owners on rivers are the worst. they want to act like they own the water in fron of thier house as well. dont like you fishing out there, want to tell you how fast to go. the worst are the smaller property owners. the move in and buy an acre if your lucky next to your and then tell you what to do with the couple of hundred acres you have across the river from them.but the smaller land owner is a problem all over baldwin county, not just the waterfront. when you are voting for land use issues, i think it should be one vote per acre, no way a 1/2 acre lot owner should be able to trump the 300 i have, but they will try. last time i went to a planning session they reminded my neighbrs i was zoned for agriculture and had both the means and the disposition to open a cattle lot or a pork lot next door to thier subdivision so it was in thier best interest to get along with me. they complained about chemical runoff and runnung farm equiptment at odd hours. (I get up at 430 and start my day then) boat ramp is a good idea, expands access to those priced out of the waterfront market or those who dont want the liability of living on the water, the same ones that will be crying for help when they get flooded out but dont want to give the poor health insurace.

time to make lemon aid. rezone your place and turn it into a baitshop and store. you got a goldmine and don’t know it!!!!!!!!