SSA Questions & Answers

SSA Rumor # 2: Sunrise Ridge Estates cannot get access to Wonder Lake.

SSA Fact # 2: The current lack of lake access is the direct result of the Sunrise Ridge Estates subdivision board failing to take advantage of numerous overtures made to them over the past 15 years.

As part of the creation of the Sunrise Ridge Estates (SRE) subdivision, SRE owns “lake access” property that fronts Nippersink Creek, immediately upstream of where it enters Wonder Lake.  Accessing the SRE property would require road access to be constructed through the Village owned Jacobsen Park.  When the SRE subdivision was annexed into the Village of Wonder Lake, the Village granted a road easement to the SRE waterfront property, but SRE has not chosen to develop it. 

While it is recognized that much of the SRE lake access property is designated wetland, it does not appear that SRE has ever undertaken an engineering study / wetland determination to determine what might be feasible, or that SRE has ever submitted a permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to obtain permission to construct a boat ramp / parking area on their lake access property. 

The proposed Wonder Lake restoration plan includes plans to dredge the mouth of Nippersink creek west to the area that is contiguous to the Sunrise Ridge Estates waterfront property so as to improve lake access from the SRE site. Any wetland impacts that would result from the construction of an SRE boat ramp could possibly be mitigated through the significant environmental benefits that will result from the implementation of the lake restoration plan. 

To help resolve the SRE lake access issue, there have been several attempts to satisfy the boating needs for the SRE property owners.

• For the past 15 years, the MPOA Officers have encouraged both the Village of Wonder Lake, and the subdivisions immediate to SRE, to work cooperatively in an attempt to solve the problem resulting from the SRE “inability” to use its waterfront property.
• According to Tom Stygar, the past president of Sunrise Ridge (SR) Property Owners Association, a portion of a SR subdivision waterfront park located across the creek from the SRE lake access property was offered to SRE for development as boating access to Wonder Lake.  The only stipulation was that the SRE property owners would be required to install a concrete boat ramp.  The offer was rejected by SRE.
• During the negotiations held in 2000 with the developers of The Meadows of West Bay, the MPOA Officers included a paragraph in the draft agreement requiring the developer to include a boat ramp and parking facility for SRE property owners.  Contact information was passed on to the SRE Board of Directors.  This requirement was subsequently negotiated out of the MPOA agreement, as the developer was never contacted by SRE.
• Over the years, there have been several occasions when SRE boat owners have asked for boat access to Wonder Lake.  In every case, the SRE boat owners have been accommodated, utilizing boat ramp facilities in various subdivisions and / or as a courtesy through privately owned facilities.
• Most recently, the MPOA Lake Manager has suggested to the SRE Director that the proposed Lake Restoration project may offer an opportunity to enable boating access from their waterfront property, and that the MPOA and SRE should work cooperatively. No SRE response has been received. 

While the MPOA has no responsibility for developing or maintaining individual subdivisions lakefront parks, beaches, and boat ramp facilities, the MPOA will continue to offer assistance in facilitating a solution.