The Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association is having a hard time finding local government backing for a lawsuit it plans to file challenging the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act.

Three local governments – the Bemus Point Village Board, Busti Town Board and Ellicott Town Board – have decided not to sign on to the CLPOA’s lawsuit, which Jim Wehrfritz, the association’s executive director, said in late March will be filed by the end of April. The town of Ellery has signed on, according to Wehrfritz, as has the Builders Exchange of the Southern Tier.

To be honest, the local governments are in a tough spot. They haven’t necessarily seen the possible ill effects of the wetlands act come to fruition yet, so signing on to a lawsuit is a bit of a leap of faith. And, local governments that are involved in herbicide treatments will have a difficult time asking the DEC for permits on one hand while signing on to a lawsuit against the DEC with the other.

The position the lakeside municipalities find themselves in highlights the need for a group that has a narrow focus on looking out for the best interests of property owners who pay some of the highest non-business property taxes in the county. Because the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association isn’t asking the DEC for anything but information, it can take the types of actions members feel is necessary to protect property owners’ interests. It’s not in a position where it is beholden to the political or permitting process.

After last year’s “All is well” calls regarding the Freshwater Wetlands Regulations, many local governments have begun to echo the concerns the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association first articulated early in 2024. It was the CLPOA that largely brought the possible issues the Freshwater Wetlands Act could create on a freshwater lake like Chautauqua to the forefront of public discourse here. Now, state office holders and county executives elsewhere in the state are finally catching on.

We hope some of the local governments that passed resolutions opposing the Freshwater Wetlands Act regulations last year sign on to the CLPOA’s lawsuit even though we understand the reasons they may not sign on as a plaintiff. Of course, they could always donate money toward the lawsuit as a sign of support without necessarily lending their name. But the difficulty local governments are having with this decision provides all the proof one needs about the outsized role the CLPOA is playing right now when it comes to Chautauqua Lake – and the need for the newest lake organization.

Property owners around Chautauqua Lake generate more than 25% of the county’s property taxes. Local governments with lakefront property have the lowest property tax rates in the county. Their voices should be heard clearly by decision makers in Buffalo and Albany as the Freshwater Wetlands Act is implemented.