Water Ski/Wakeboard Park Gets Thumbs Up From Lake Elsinore City Council

UPDATE/CORRECTION: This story previously stated the project timeline would be 10-12 years. The actual timeline would be 10-12 weeks.

A proposal to bring a “cable ski park” to Lake Elsinore’s Inlet Channel received unanimous support from City Council Tuesday night.

In a 5-0 vote, the Lake Elsinore City Council gave an initial ok to California Cable Parks operators on its concept to develop the recreational area that would see several 28-feet-tall metal towers in the Inlet Channel, with cabling running between the towers for skiing, and the installation of wakeboarding structures.

To accommodate visitors, about 60 parking spaces would be created at Lakepoint Park.

Scott Towsley and Chuck Sacks, principles for California Cable Parks, contend the proposed park would be the first of its kind on the West Coast and could attract significant tourism dollars to the city.

“The Inlet Channel would make an ideal site,” Sacks said.

City Council members did express some concerns about the project, including financial benefits to the city, liability, noise, impact on nearby residents and existing watersports activities on the lake, parking and aesthetics.

Councilman Bob Magee said he was supportive of the concept but cautioned, “the devil is in the details.”

The park may be the first of it’s kind on the West Coast, Magee said, “but we need to be first class. I support the concept but I want to see the details.”

Proponents of the park project have been meeting with city staff over the past several months. According to an April 26 memo from City Manager Bob Brady, staff provided general guidelines to park’s operators for development, including the requirements for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), permitting, engineering plans and specÍfications for structures, compatibility with the city’s WatersEdge project, an operation and maintenance plan, safety plan, parking and the city's cost recovery fees.

Towsley and Sacks, who is the city's concessionaire of the Inlet Channel and owner of Lake Elsinore-based Califomia Skier Mastercraft, said that a timeline on the proposed park’s opening is 10-12 weeks out.