Herald Journal: Garden City Wins On Beach Access Through Subdivision

GARDEN CITY, Utah In an interview this week with Garden City Mayor John Spuhler, RCTonline asked him about his feelings on the outcome of the lawsuit. Spuhler said that he was pleased that the Judge made that ruling which is what the city attorney and others had believed to be correct.  He also said that the beach access was needed and wanted by visitors to Bear Lake.

Spuhler said that the access would be pedestrian only, no motorized vehicles and that the city would work with adjacent property owners if there were any problems.  He also noted that there is a Garden City shuttle bus which will take people to the beach accesses.

Amy Macavinta, Reporter Herald Journal, 
Reprinted with permission

LOGAN, Utah.  September 10, 2014. A lawsuit challenging public access to a segment of Bear Lake’s west beach was dismissed by a 1st District Court judge this week.

In June, the Shore Lodge Estates Homeowners Association filed a lawsuit against the Town of Garden City and its mayor, John Spuhler. In the formal complaint filed in court, homeowners say each of the seven driveways providing access to their homes have always been and were always intended to be private.

Attorney Daniel Dansie maintains that the developers of the Shore Lodge Estates never intended for these properties to be anything but private homes with private access to the beach area.

However, the city argued there is nothing in either the amended or the original plat to indicate that the streets are not intended for public use.

“The fact of the matter is, those are public accesses,” Spuhler said. “We tried to work with them before they filed the suit, but they sued us, and the judge made the proper ruling. … They are now open, and we are glad that the judge ruled as he did. I’m glad the public has six more accesses.”

After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Thomas L. Willmore dismissed the case entirely on multiple counts.

Primarily, Willmore ruled that neither the homeowners’ association nor the individual landowners have demonstrated that they have the standing to seek relief in this matter “because the individual lot owners do not have an ownership interest in the streets and have no legal right to control them.”

Additionally, Willmore ruled that Shore Lodge Estate HOA also has no ownership in either the streets or the individual lots and no covenants, restrictions or easements have been recorded against the individual lots.

Homeowners living in this subdivision say opening up access to the beach through their properties will subject them to littering, trespassing, vandalism and property damage, but the attorney representing Garden City said such claims are merely speculative.

Willmore agreed and concluded that the HOA had not demonstrated how its members would be adversely affected — therefore relief cannot be granted.

Shore Lodge Estates had also accused the town of illegally removing the gates that have been in place for decades. However, the courts were unable to address that claim because the gates were individually owned by the property owners, not collectively owned by the association and its residents.

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amacavinta@hjnews.com