Cottage Park is in White Bear Lake, Minnesota USA. Learn about Cottage Park. Reports: Easement Guide

Easement Guide

The Cottage Park Homeowners' Easement was established in 1983. Since that time, the Homeowners have been unable to agree on rules for using the Easement. Even if rules were developed, how are they going to be enforced? But all is not lost; whatever the Homeowners are doing now seems to be working. This is an attempt to provide a guide for sharing the Easement.

The Cottage Park Homeowners' guidelines can be divided into three catagories.

  1. Land owned by the Association.
  2. The Cottage Park Homeowners' Easement.
  3. The Cottage Park Homeowners' Easement boats and docks.

Homeowners' Association Land

The Cottage Park Homeowners' Association does not own land. The Easement Rights to the Cottage Park Homeowners' Easement belongs to the individual Homeowners.

Homeowners' Easement

  1. Be Considerate: Everyone involved, including Homeowners, the Association, and the City, should keep in mind that many Homeowners, their families and their guests can use the Easement. When using the Easement it is important NOT to do anything that interferes with other homeowners rights. No Homeowner can claim a portion of the Easement as their own for any purpose.
  2. Rules: For now, applying the City of White Bear Lake Code and Park Rules is the only source for regulating use of the Easement. There are not any formal rules or regulations and how they would be enforced.
  3. Gatherings: Gatherings are discouraged on the Easement. The area does not support the necessary infrastructure, such as parking and restrooms, for gatherings. Serving alcohol is a liability issue. A City permit may be required.
  4. Trees: The City Engineer has always insisted the City is responsible for the trees on the easement, not the Association or Homeowners. Over the years this has worked well for diseased, dying, or dead trees. The gray area seems to be when a tree or limbs fall to the ground. Downed trees or limbs can be cleaned-up by homeowners. If there is a problem with a tree, it's best to call the City Engineer's office or the Public Works Superintendent to review the situation. Any cut wood must be removed from the Easement and NOT dumped in the Nature Preserve.
  5. Tree Trimming: Homeowners can cut lower limbs from the bottom of a mature tree up to seven feet from the ground. Cut limbs must be removed from the Easement and disposed of properly as yard waste by the Homeowner.
  6. Lake Trees: Trees along and beyond the shoreline high water mark or in the water can't be removed without a permit from the DNR. If the DNR approves, the City must be consulted before removing the trees.
  7. Brush: There is no restriction on brush removal. Brush and weed removal along the shoreline is discouraged due to erosion issues. Any brush cut or collected must be removed from the Easement. Dumping in another location of the Easement or Nature Preserve is not allowed. NO BRUSH PILES ANYWHERE!
  8. Weeds: Weed spraying in not allowed on the Easement. If everyone agrees, and someone pays for it, then a lawn services could be hired to do the work.
  9. Mowing: The area from the easement entrance to the tree line is mowed. From the tree line to below the hill is weed whipped as needed. The area below the hill is mowed.
  10. Lake Muck: The DNR prohibits removing muck from the lake without a permit. Getting a permit is unlikely. The Association tried to get the City to dredge the muck along the Easement in the late 1980's or early 1990's. As a result, Homeowners had to sit through a one hour DNR presentation explaining why it was not going to happen.
  11. Trash: Everyone is responsible for removing their trash and any other trash from the Easement.
  12. Dogs: Dog owners are expected to follow City leash and clean-up laws. The Easement is not a dog park. Those dog owners that feel there status in life exempt them from these laws should make sure their dog does not interfere with other animal life on the Easement or the Nature Preserve, especially in the spring and early summer. You and your dog will not be appreciated by other Homeowners if it comes up with duck egg or a dead animal in its mouth. Also, just because your dog is friendly to you and you family does not mean it is not dangerous to other people.
  13. Vehicles: Driving vehicles on the Easement is very strongly discouraged. For some homeowners, the only access to the back of their property is by driving over the Easement. This is expected to be a seldom occurrence and not happen on a daily or weekly basis. Any damage to the ground, fences, property markers, or trees is expected to be repaired by the person or persons that caused the damage. Remember, entry to the easement is via the Pedestrian Walkway owned by the City. City regulations apply.
  14. NOTICE: Vehicles are prohibited from using the property to cross the shoreline to enter the lake or drive on the dry lake bed. It is erosion and an environmental issue regulated by the DNR, WBLCD, and the City. Vehicles must use designated lake access points to enter the lake during the winter.
  15. Storage: Although there is no formal agreement, only docks used during the summer may be stored on the Easement during the winter. During the summer there should not be anything stored on the Easement.
  16. Structures: Permanent structures are not allowed to be built on the Easement. Portable structures, such as tables, chairs, benches, or similar equipment, can be placed on the Easement for one day but must be removed by the end of the same day. Nothing must block another homeowner's access to the easement. Portable Toilets are not allowed.
  17. Snowmobiles and ATVs: It is unlawful to use the Easement or Nature Preserve to access the lake with a snowmobile or all terrain vehicles (ATV). Note that the Easement entrance is over City park property.
  18. Donations: Homeowner's and the Association accept only financial and labor donations for the Easement. Please do not consider any other type of "donation". Don't even think about it! If you are thinking about it, then STOP thinking about it immediately!
  19. Enforcement: Police will respond to any criminal action that occurs on the Easement. Any violations of City Park rules or City Code will be enforced at the discretion of the City. The City may require the Homeowners to address the issue among themselves. Any violation of agreements would have to resolved by the Homeowners through the legal process. There is some doubt that the City Police would enforce trespassing laws because the Easement land belongs to the City and the Easement boundaries are not prominently marked.
  20. Liability: The Association does NOT claim any liability related to the Homeowners' Easement. Liability issues would probably involve the City and/or the Homeowners. Homeowners should get advise from their homeowner's insurance agent; supplemental insurance may be required. Not being an Association member will not exempt a homeowner from liability.

Homeowners' Docks and Boats

Docks and boats are allowed on the Cottage Park Homeowners' Easement. There is no written agreement among all Homeowners on how this is accomplished.

Some Homeowners operate a community dock on White Bear Lake licensed by the White Bear Lake Conservation District (WBLCD). Written rules related to the community dock, if any, have not been formally approved by all Easement Homeowners.

  1. Dock Allocation: Unknown. Some sort a payment may be required.

    A Homeowner does not own a dock slip. The slip is not the property of the Homeowner and cannot be sold as part of their property. Use of the slip is determine on a year-to-year basis.

    It is expected that each Easement Homeowner is allowed one boat and dock slip. A Homeowner cannot rent their dock slip to someone else unless the Homeowner rents their property and home to someone else then the renter is entitled to that Homeowner's boat slip.
  2. Dock Storage: Docks stored on the Easement should not block access to the lake during the winter. Docks and related parts should not be stored on the Easement during the summer.
  3. Winter Lake Access: Easement Homeowners use the trail to the frozen lake in the winter. Keep the trail and the lake front open to allow access.
  4. Boat Lifts: Boat lifts are not allowed. Lifts environmentally damage the lake bottom. There is not enough room to store them on easement during the winter if everyone was allowed to have one. This is a common sense courtesy followed by all Homeowners since the agreement was made in 1983.
  5. Canoes and Kayaks: Canoes, kayaks, and simular non-motorized watercraft are not allowed to be stored on the Easement. They may be launched anywhere from the shoreline. By the end of the day, the watercraft must be removed from the Easement. Racks attached to the docks can be used to store watercraft during the summer but they cannot be stored on the Easement during the winter.

Buffer Area

Some maintain that there is a "buffer area" allocated on the Homeowners' Easement for the property on the eastern boundary of the Easement. This seems to be a fabrication or a misunderstanding. Initially, during the settlement process, the Easement and the Nature Preserve areas were opposite to where they are now. Also, the property owner "aquired" two-thirds of the length of the ten foot wide public trail along their property. Anyway, there is no mention of this buffer area in any documents although the agreements allows the City to put a fence along their property at the request of the Homeowner.

Notice

Wood Ticks: Ramsey County is rated as "moderate risk" for tick borne diseases, such as Lyme Disease. Anoka County and Washington County, two close adjacent counties, are rated as "high risk". The Minnesota Health Department has more information and related maps. In the mid 1990s, there was one reported case of Lyme Disease contracted by a Homeowner working on the Easement.

In the Spring and Summer of 2018, all the accumulated brush, wood and brush piles, fencing, and other "stuff" has been cleared from Homeowners' Easement. This should help to minimize the exposure. All that remains are the raspberry bushes on the easterly boundary of the Easement. Raspberry bushes attract deer, one of the mammals favored by ticks. Also, accumulated dead leaves and wood piles make a good home for ticks.

This also applies to the Nature Preserve.