10-29-2007, 11:55 AM
Rob, the visual of a bus may fit your agenda, but it's grossly misleading. A 7 passenger vehicle is not a tour bus.
The point with the vacation rental thing is simple. When you've lived here a while you realize that people need to work together. Things are not as black and white as you infer by calling them illegal. The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of gray here. And when the state and local agencies that we work with allow us to go there, just as they allow the short-term rentals to exist, there must be a reason and it should be left to those of us involved to work together to find solutions. Not point fingers. I've been to the Pond almost every day for five or six years now. There is nothing depreciating about the Pond except for the increase in campers. If people are staying longer they need to relieve themselves. So figure out a way to provide some facilities for people. Otherwise you will force the government agencies to move in and totally change the area for ever.
The water tested in Champagne Pond by researchers comes out about average in quality. Average, Rob. It's not the water quality that is at issue at the Pond. When people spend several hours at the Pond and there are no facilities, then they use the strip of jungle to urinate and defecate. It's as simple as that, and it's been going on for twenty years, maybe more. Keep in mind that we've been going to the Pond for four years with no change in water quality. You began this thread with asking for ideas on how to resolve these issues. The answer can't be to keep people out.
The point with the vacation rental thing is simple. When you've lived here a while you realize that people need to work together. Things are not as black and white as you infer by calling them illegal. The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of gray here. And when the state and local agencies that we work with allow us to go there, just as they allow the short-term rentals to exist, there must be a reason and it should be left to those of us involved to work together to find solutions. Not point fingers. I've been to the Pond almost every day for five or six years now. There is nothing depreciating about the Pond except for the increase in campers. If people are staying longer they need to relieve themselves. So figure out a way to provide some facilities for people. Otherwise you will force the government agencies to move in and totally change the area for ever.
The water tested in Champagne Pond by researchers comes out about average in quality. Average, Rob. It's not the water quality that is at issue at the Pond. When people spend several hours at the Pond and there are no facilities, then they use the strip of jungle to urinate and defecate. It's as simple as that, and it's been going on for twenty years, maybe more. Keep in mind that we've been going to the Pond for four years with no change in water quality. You began this thread with asking for ideas on how to resolve these issues. The answer can't be to keep people out.