Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association leadership is encouraged by the rising attendance at two Memorial Day weekend meetings.

During Memorial Day weekend, two informational sessions were held offering both in-person and online attendance options. Jim Wehrfritz, the executive director of the CLPOA, noted that the events attracted a higher-than-average number of participants.

“At our Saturday session held at the Bemus Point Golf Course and Tap House, we had 90 in-person attendees with 17 people watching online; at our Sunday session held at Lawson Center Boat Museum, we had 50 people and 15 attended online,” he said. “We had 175 people engaged, plus or minus one or two.”

Discussion centered on the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s interpretation and implementation of the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. In 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul enacted revisions to New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. Originally established in 1975, this law aims to regulate activities near larger wetlands exceeding 12.4 acres. Beginning in 2025, the threshold will be reduced to 7.4 acres by 2028. Additionally, the regulations will apply to smaller wetlands of unusual local significance, including Chautauqua Lake and its surrounding watershed, as noted by Wehfritz.

Wehfritz has contended and still does that “the Wetlands Regulations are not appropriate for a 13,000-acre lake with 150-plus years of shoreline development and hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment.” The CLPOA was the first of four organizations to file lawsuits challenging the Freshwater Wetland Act’s constitutionality.

During the meetings, Wehfritz said the DEC is bringing on 28 additional staff members to aid in the enforcement of the new wetland regulations. Additionally, the 2024-2025 Large Lake Exemption bill, sponsored by Senator George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, and Assemblyman Molitor, R-Westfield, was voted down in committee and did not advance to the legislative floor for a vote.

“The DEC’s actions are unconstitutional, and it deprives citizens of their freedoms and the equal protection clause,” Wehfritz said.

CLPOA points of contention include treating all areas as wetlands, the use of a costly, time-consuming, cumbersome determination and appeals process and impacts on development and property values.

Furthermore, Wehfritz stated that the DEC, specifically Region Nine, has expanded the scope of the Wetlands Act to include an additional 1.4 million acres of land, bringing the total to 2.6 million acres under direct supervision, in addition to the existing 1.2 million acres.

Wehfritz announced, at both meetings, that the CLPOA has an official website up, and to donate or find out more information, individuals should go to chautauqua-property-owners-association.hivebrite.com