By Tom Meersman, Star Tribune

Like mushrooms sprouting after a rain, supersized docks are increasingly jutting out from Minnesota lakeshores.

As cabin and lake-home owners spread out on the water -- with grills, picnic tables and even hot tubs -- the controversy spreads between big-dock lovers and th

e neighbors who hate them. Now the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources finds itself in troubled waters as it considers whether to relax state limits on dock sizes.

"Docks historically have been for getting access to deeper water, but a lot of people are just extending their back yards out over the lake," said Tom Hovey, public waters hydrologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

State rules allow docks to be no wider than 8 feet in any direction, but so many docks exceed that size that the DNR issued a temporary amnesty this year for hundreds of illegal, oversized platforms. The agency did not want to assume the role of dock police, officials said.

This fall the DNR is reassessing those rules and may relax them for 2008. But it won't be pretty.

The debate at five public meetings last summer and in dozens of written comments has pitted those who say their rights as taxpayers should allow them to have wider docks for safety and enjoyment against those who contend that huge docks encroach on public waters and destroy aquatic vegetation and fish habitat.

Hovey said the trend of oversized docks is strong in the Brainerd lakes area and on Lake Minnetonka. Some lakeshore owners have built platforms 24 feet wide or larger and use them for parties, furniture and even hot tubs, he said.

No one knows how many oversized docks were on lakes in 2007, Hovey said, but a recent citizens' survey of two lakes just north of Brainerd showed that about 10 percent of the docks were larger than the DNR allows.

'A beautiful place to relax'

Russell Larson lives on Big Sandy Lake in Aitkin County, where he enjoys a dock with an 8-foot-by-24-foot sundeck on the end.

"As far as entertaining on the dock, it's a quiet, beautiful place to relax, and absolutely you should be able to do that," he said.

Larson works for a dock manufacturer, but he said his opinions are those of a year-round lakeshore owner. His opinion: The DNR should be focusing on the more serious problems of invasive weeds and excessive phosphorus in state waters, not on the size of docks.

"They have some personal agendas as to what they see as ideal, canoeing down the lake and not seeing any homes or any docks and seeing nature," Larson said, referring to state officials. "That's what we have the Boundary Waters [Canoe Area Wilderness] for."

Others build large docks for greater safety for grandchildren or grandparents, or to accommodate larger boats, personal watercraft and boat lifts, or because they have steeply sloping land or no beaches.

However, some of their neighbors say docks should never be used as decks, second lawns or patios. Sprawling docks and platforms spoil views, clutter shorelines, shade important fish habitat and infringe on publicly owned waters, they say.

"I have young children, and I know exactly the difference between a need and a want," said Ann Long Voelkner of Bemidji, who owns lakeshore property on three lakes. "People do not need large docks, although they may want them. If people want to party, let them build a deck on their land, not on our lakes."

Dock sizes need to be restricted, not relaxed, Voelkner said, especially since the number of docks is increasing with the sales and subdivision of lakeshore property. The problem will worsen, she predicted, as tiered developments are built just behind lakeshore lots with access to lakes.

Larry Wannebo of Manhattan Beach, in northern Minnesota, said the purpose of a dock is to provide access to a boat.

"Having a dock is a privilege, and people need to understand that it may come with some restrictions and some responsibility," he said.

Humans have already destroyed enough aquatic vegetation and disturbed too many shallow areas, said Wannebo, without further "abusing the shoreline with outlandish intrusions into the water with massive dock systems at which to park their toys."

Large docks actually may be better for the environment in some cases, said Gary Johnson, marketing manager for ShoreMaster Inc., a dock-manufacturing company in Fergus Falls. Otherwise, he said, owners with marginal beaches might cut down trees, level slopes or make other permanent landscape changes to enjoy the waterfront.

By contrast, said Johnson, docks are temporary structures used for only three or four months that do little if any harm to the lakeshore.

"I understand what people are saying about water being a public resource, but if you look at all the miles of shoreline that we have in Minnesota, it's a lot," he said.

Fisheries experts disagree on the environmental benefits. In a letter to the DNR, the Minnesota chapter of the American Fisheries Society said allowing larger docks will put aquatic habitats at unnecessary risk and diminish the natural character of public waters. In addition to larger docks, said vice president David Fulton, lakeshore owners are increasing the numbers of boat lifts, canopies, platforms, floats and trampolines.

"Much of the shoreline on many of Minnesota's lakes has turned into a vast array of bright aluminum, decking and vinyl," Fulton wrote. "If current trends continue, few lakes will retain any semblance of a natural shoreline."