Loud parties on island in Lake Sabbatia, 'cowboying' jet skiers — What's Taunton doing?

TAUNTON — “There’s been no rules followed. No police presence. It’s been like the Wild West,” said William Humphrey Jr., a 25-year resident living along Lake Sabbatia in Taunton, who complained to the mayor and City Council about unruly boaters and jet-skiers causing trouble on the lake for the last month.

Humphrey’s complaint is one of many either lodged by residents with the Taunton Police Department and mayor’s office over the last month, or that were directed to the mayor and City Council at an Aug. 8 meeting.

“The boaters have been truly frightening,” said Tammy Swenson, Sabbatia resident on Edgewater Lane, to Council on Aug. 8, adding she’s “seen so many close calls of people getting hit” and she’s worried “there will be a deadly accident soon.”

Here's what happened Owner not giving up after truck crashes into Taunton addiction center day before opening

Residents complain about speeding jet skiers, loud parties, illegal parking

Among the issues complained about to officials and police, as well as through posts and threads on the social media group, Sabbatia Lakelifers, are:

• Reckless, speeding jet-skiers either circling or scaring other boaters with close calls

• Large groups of people going out to Sabbatia Island, partying, playing loud music late at night and leaving their trash on the island

• Harassment and intimidation by these people against the residents and fishermen on the water

• Illegal parking along Bay Street and the adjacent boat ramp parking lot

Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh told the Gazette the department has increased its presence on the lake and Bay Street boat ramp in response to the residents’ concerns.

Are out-of-towners causing the problems?

Sabbatia resident Pegi Conte told the City Council on Aug. 8 that the concerning behavior is coming from “people out of town, not following the rules.”

Bay Street resident Judy Wien echoed that assessment, saying she’s seen many cars, many with Rhode Island license plates, parking on both sides of Bay Street, which is illegal and doesn’t allow for two-way traffic.

Walsh told the Council at an Aug. 15 presentation he agrees that the people causing the trouble are “mainly from out of town,” based on the citations they have issued to illegally parked vehicles, as well as checking the registrations of boaters coming to the boat ramp.

'Lavish' Weekly home sales: Taunton home with accessory apartment sells for $800K

Party boats ferrying people to Sabbatia island

Lake Sabbatia resident Lisa Potter described to the Council seeing several boats and jet skis “transporting around 30 folks to the island” on several weekends, with many of the people not wearing life jackets and bringing with them tanks of gas to either refill their boats on the water or start fire pits on the island.

Mary Beth Perry of Sabbatia Drive is one of the homeowners living closest to the island. She told the Gazette she has seen a sizable boat ferry out people to the island on the weekend, as well as multiple jet skiers following them.

She said the music they play on the island is loud, but it doesn’t bother her.

What does bother Perry is the trash they leave behind on the island, which she and other residents take it upon themselves to clean up. She said she and other residents cleaning the island have seen broken bottles and beer cans, empty food wrappers and packaging, and even used diapers.

What also bothers Perry are the jet skiers “cowboying” on the lake at top speeds.

“It’s fine if they weren’t reckless,” she said, adding she and her family are reluctant to go on the water with their kayaks when they are there.

Why has it suddenly gotten so bad?

Craig Demoura of Sabbatia Lane, who has lived on the lake for more than 40 years, said he’s never seen a high volume of incidents like what’s transpired over the last month. He’s also one of the residents who have been cleaning up the trash on Sabbatia's island after each weekend.

He attributes the surge in visitors to the lake to all the invasive weed-killing and remediation efforts that have gone on the last year.

“People heard about the cleaning of the lake.”

He said “it’s at least 70% better” when it comes to driving his boat around on the Lake and not worrying about getting entangled in thick weed patches.

Peg Conte agrees with Demoura that it wasn’t nearly as bad with unruly boaters in prior years.

“Please don’t come and destroy what we have,” she told the City Council on Aug. 8, regarding the time and work she, other residents and officials have put into getting the lake’s weed issues under control.

“We pulled the weeds. We didn’t see these out-of-towners pulling weeds with us. They’re treating [the lake] like a waste dump,” said Shelley Smith, resident on Shore Drive, at the Aug. 8 meeting.

Walsh told The Gazette he speculates another factor could be a “post-COVID activity boom” where people under lockdown bought new toys and vehicles and have been waiting to use them.

He also attributes the increase in “irresponsible boaters” on the lake to people looking for bodies of water with fewer restrictions regarding speed and recreational activity.

Taunton affordable condo lottery 'Blighted' Church Green property gets OK for affordable condos. What to know

Beefed up enforcement on the lake

Demoura, Conte, and Perry, among others, told the Gazette that the weekend of Aug. 11-13, was quieter and safer on the lake than the last month of weekends, thanks to an increased police presence.

“Thank you for listening to us when we spoke. We saw a big difference this weekend,” said Judy Wien, at the Aug. 15 City Council meeting.

Besides a patrol boat on the water, Walsh said officers were at the boat ramp checking boat vehicle registrations of owners, as well as making sure they are carrying life jackets with them, which are required for most users of the lake. He said some owners had either expired or no registrations.

Walsh said the department has been patrolling the lake during summers, off and on, for over a decade. He said the intention is to maintain a stronger weekend presence on the lake and at the boat ramp for the rest of summer, into early fall, for peak boating hours, like early morning and mid-afternoon.

Lowering the speed limit for boats and jet skis?

In an Aug. 11 letter to the City Council, Mayor Shaunna O’ Connell said, “The City of Taunton has worked extensively over several years to improve Lake Sabbatia and address issues concerning the lake” and “City of Taunton Officials and the Taunton Police Department are considering additional long-term solutions to ensure appropriate conduct on the lake with the primary goal of safety in mind.”

Walsh told the mayor and City Council on Aug. 15 some of his long-term recommendations for improving safety and managing activity on the lake include

• Lowering the speed limit for boats and jet skis, which is currently 45 mph

• Setting a limit on the amount of vehicle horsepower allowed on the lake

• Improving markings with buoys for "no wake zones" near shore lines — the current limits are 10 mph within 75 yards of a shore line and 5 mph within 100 yards of a beach.

What about banning jet skis?

Another possibility Walsh brought up is banning jet skis on the lake altogether. The problem with that idea, Walsh said, is you are penalizing the residents of the lake who have jet skis.

“Whatever decision is made, it will impact someone,” he said, adding that it's the City Council who has to make the decisions regarding whether or not it wants more regulations and/or restrictions on the lake.

Cracking down on illegal parking at the boat ramp

All parking in the boat ramp lot is only for trailer access for visitors’ watercrafts. This hasn’t stopped people without trailers from parking their cars in the ramp lot. And when the lot is full, visitors have either been parking along both sides of Bay Street, hindering safe two-way traffic, or even taking up residential and visitor spaces at Land's End condominiums, right next door to the ramp lot.

Another issue has been visitors parking in the ramp lot in order to avoid paid parking across the street in the parking lot for Watson Pond State Park.

Besides monitoring access to the boat ramp, Walsh said officers have been ticketing cars parked illegally both on Bay Street and in the ramp lot. Eighty citations have been issued in the last three weeks, Walsh told the Council on Aug. 15.

Parking in the boat ramp lot is no longer free. A pay kiosk was installed this summer to deter Watson Pond visitors from parking there. Over 200 payments were recorded for the ramp lot kiosk for the month of July, Walsh said.

The city is planning on painting new pavement markings in the lot identifying spaces as being for boat trailers and/or kayaks only. Walsh also said, despite the abundance of signage currently in the lot, he also wants each space installed with a new sign, so that there would be no way for a visitor without a boat to act like they didn’t know they couldn’t park there.

Currently, Walsh said officers are focusing on addressing the visitors parking in the ramp lot without a boat trailer. He said when that gets under control, they will better direct attention to non-paying vehicles.

Another measure implemented is the city is going back to closing the gate to the boat ramp lot at dusk, to be reopened each day at dawn. Walsh told the Council that’s been the policy for more than 30 years, but it hasn’t been enforced for the last few years. Walsh added the city also intends to install a new gate, along with fencing for the lot.

One final measure in the works concerns towing. Walsh said, currently, despite what some signs say, Bay Street is not a designated tow zone, meaning Taunton police can only ticket vehicles. Walsh is currently working on draft ordinances with the law department, to be reviewed and voted on by City Council and the Parking Commission, to give police authorization to tow vehicles parked on the side of Bay Street and in the ramp lot.

So where should I park?

A big issue with Lake Sabbatia is there is no public parking near the boat ramp. Walsh said a problem is big groups coming to the lake in multiple cars, instead of consolidating into fewer vehicles, not realizing the lack of available parking. He said many knowledgeable visitors end up parking far away, such as one mile down Bay Street in the BJ’s Wholesale Club parking lot, and have to get ferried in by friends, because there are no other options.

“The challenge is the lake is almost a victim of its own success,” said City Councilor David Pottier regarding the lack of public parking.

Walsh said he’s had lengthy discussions with the mayor’s office about the issue and “that’s a challenge going forward.” Possible solutions include establishing a public parking lot on an available parcel of land near the lake or setting up a park and ride shuttle system from an available parcel in the Myles Standish Industrial Park.

Who owns the island?

Sabbatia Island is owned by the city, per a 2004 Land Court decision, Walsh told the Council.

That means, per Walsh’s interpretation of the laws, it's City Council and the Conservation Commission who are responsible for establishing regulations and maintenance for the island.

“The city has to do decide what it wants to do with the island,” he said.

No drinking allowed on island

If Council and the Conservation Commission want the island to remain public, Walsh recommends enforcing prohibiting alcohol consumption there.

“It’s no different from a public park or playground. if you can’t drink in public, then you can’t drink on an island owned by the city,” he said.

If the city wants to close the island to the public, then it probably needs to fence in the perimeter, Walsh said.

A motion by the Council was approved to refer a discussion on what to do with Sabbatia Island to the Committee on Public Property.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton: Complaints about Lake Sabbatia island party boats, jet skiers