WACONIA, Minn. - Dale Willenbring walks a neighborhood path toward Lake Waconia, and a view he can barely stomach.
“I think it's a bad precedent for Minnesota,” Willenbring says.
He's talking about his neighbor’s new dock, more than 200 feet of wood decking and steel I-Beams, permanently anchored on pilings into the bottom of Lake Waconia.
The dock is the latest salvo in a dispute that has pitted homeowners Cristine and Jayson Dock against the Waconia Landing Homeowners’ Association.
“I use my 10-year-old son to put in my dock,” says Willenbring. “They had a large crew here for many months putting this in.”
In a sense, geography created the problem. Due to a bend in the lake shore, the Dock family’s dock cuts in front of the homeowners’ association's beach.
The past few springs the homeowners’ association has raced to get its dock in the water before the Dock family claims the space.
This fall the family’s newly constructed permanent dock seemingly locked up the lake space for good.
“I’m just tired of fighting over it,” Jayson Dock says.
The view from the Dock family’s kitchen shows the new dock within the property line, running straight out from the house.
Jayson Dock says he's followed Minnesota Department of Natural Resources guidelines, adding, "We have been just unbelievably harassed and tormented by this neighborhood."
The DNR doesn’t require permits for docks, even permanent ones.
In October, the Waconia City Council passed an ordinance banning permanent docks.
The city was denied a restraining order to stop the dock's construction.
It's now fighting in court for its removal. “The council's main impetus for the ordinance was really preservation of Lake Waconia,” says Susan Arntz, Waconia City Administrator. “It's a lake that is a body of water for everyone.”
Willenbring believes it’s time for legislation.
“It used to be common sense and common courtesy was enough, I think now we probably need some good laws,” he said.