Howard Lake Residents in Cass Co. Express More Concerns Over Proposed RV Resort

Many Cass County residents living on Howard Lake are still fighting against the proposed development of an RV park on the lake’s north shore. A vote earlier this month by the Cass County Planning Commission on obtaining an environmental impact statement (EIS) for Howard Lake ended in a tie.

The Howard Lake Akeley Association gathered over 350 signatures to petition the county to obtain an EIS, stating that the Planning Commission needs to take a more in-depth look at the lake and its needs prior to approving the RV park.

“Howard Lake has been designated as a lake of outstanding biological significance,” explained Howard Lake resident Diane Ford. “So it has a lot of unique plants, animals, rare—this is a tullibee refuge lake as well. And so the impact of adding all that density and the boat traffic to the lake can impact those populations.”

The lake is also home to endangered lady slipper plants. But residents are focused on more than just the environmental effects that the new people and boats could cause on their own.

“Our county ordinances don’t ever factor the impact to the lake. They really only look at land,” said Ford. “And so we’ve tried to look at other states, other counties across Minnesota that actually have lake characteristics as part of their density calculations, and we haven’t found any. And so that’s probably one of the next steps that we would do as well, is try to look at changing the ordinances, because the studies are showing that overdevelopment on lakes really impairs the quality of the water.”

The new resort will be much bigger than the old one and is set to hold 41 to 47 units. It would also increase Howard Lake’s population by about 50%.

“Right now, I think the way it’s set up is being taken advantage of by developers, and of course it’s all about making money,” said David Ford, Diane’s husband, David Ford. “What the developers also will tell you is they’ll say, ‘Well, if if we come here, it’s going to really help the local economy.’ They’re here from the 1st of May until the end of October. If you go into town during them months, there’s no need for extra people. Where there’s need for more people is in the winter, when all these businesses that are here to be here for the summer months, they’re trying to keep enough business in the winter to survive. And a lot of businesses close down. They really struggle.”

The next meeting to discuss the EIS will be held on April 14th at the Cass County Land Services building in Backus.