Halt called on docks at Tulloch

Published: March 27, 2002

By SCOTT PESZNECKER

Other than 10 OK’d for one subdivision, no new docks for subdivisions at Tulloch Reservoir will be allowed until Tuolumne and Calaveras county planners study future development on the reservoir’s shoreline.

The Tri-Dam Project Board of Directors voted not to permit any new docks at Tulloch for 60 days. Tri-Dam Project manages the reservoir and two others on the Stanislaus River — Beardsley and Donnells.

The board limited the Calypso Bay subdivision to 10 docks — far less than the 40 to 60 docks the developer asked for two weeks ago. The 126-home subdivision is now under construction south of Conner Estates.

“We’re trying to get the attention of the counties to say, ‘look, it’s time to do some planning,’” said Susan Servidio, Tri-Dam Project’s Tulloch coordinator.

Servidio said her agency is allowing single docks for existing properties.

For pending subdivisions, though — like the Tuscany Hills project proposed south of Saddle Creek — developers must wait until a study is completed.

Preliminary maps of Tuscany Hills show a 6.3-acre marina on the property’s south boundary.

Jeff Wedel, a resident of the Conner Estates subdivision at Tulloch Reservoir, said the temporary halt to large-scale dock building was needed.

“It’s pretty obvious that the lake is not going to be able to support the kind of docks that the developers want,” he said.

Already, 645 docks line Tulloch Reservoir's shore. Tri-Dam General Manager Steve Felte has said most of those docks hold more than one watercraft.

Officials from Tri-Dam Project and Tuolumne and Calaveras counties will discuss the matter in a study session April 15.

Calypso Bay, formerly called Calypso Beach Villas, was granted 10 docks because original subdivision maps placed 10 lots on the shoreline.

A Tri-Dam Project study this year found the reservoir size appropriate for 116 boats, but up to 176 boats shared the waters on Saturdays and Sundays last summer.