Vilas County officials need to rein in unrestrained growth

Vilas County officials need to rein in unrestrained growth

To the Editor:

I am writing to voice my strong opposition to the potential development of Riverside Park in Eagle River and to express my deep disappointment — and very real frustration — with the Vilas County officials who set this in motion and the City of Eagle River officials who approved it.  

The problem, though, goes well beyond Riverside Park.

In recent years, it’s become impossible to ignore the pace and scale of development — it feels relentless, unchecked, and poorly managed. 

Vilas County leadership has failed, in every meaningful way, to control or guide it. As a result, the character of our community is changing far faster than many of us find comfortable or acceptable.  

Eagle River has become overcrowded. Boat traffic on the lakes has reached a point where the quality of the experience has been diminished. We’re losing open, undeveloped land at an alarming rate.  Government services can’t keep up. We hear these concerns from friends, neighbors, and even visitors constantly.

Against this backdrop, it’s hard to understand why our elected officials keep allowing, funding, and pushing for more growth and commercialization, further eroding the very qualities that make this place special.  

An absurd number of billboards, an ill-considered large subdivision on the shores of the Chain of Lakes, waves of unsightly storage units, and now the proposed sale and development of prime green space in the heart of Eagle River are simply the latest examples of a clear and troubling pattern: The public voices its opposition, yet our elected officials seem to give nearly every proposed development an automatic green light. 

They can’t even be bothered to conduct basic due diligence, such as studying likely impacts on lake traffic, road use, schools, healthcare, public safety, and general quality of life. It’s bewildering.

I sincerely hope the Vilas County Board decides against selling Riverside Park and commits to preserving this vital, irreplaceable green space. 

More broadly, it’s well past time for public officials to heed the growing public concern over unrestrained development by putting sensible limits in place — and for voters to hold them accountable at the ballot box.

Very truly yours,

Dan O’Neil

Eagle River/Stuart, Fla.