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I remember my coworker who lives in Lunenburg mentioning this type of situation. He said he pays a few bucks a year for access. Closest place on the map would be Hickory Hills Lake. A lake association/social group type thing sounded a little too Mayberry for me, but if that is what you enjoy so be it.
I wouldn't always assume that a body of water is a lake or Pond either. I know of a person that does have a fish farm of approximately 1/3 of an acre. And there's many old former Cranberry Bogs across the South Shore.
Their history clearly explains it. It's a non natural basin, so definitely not a great pond. It was man made, the land around it was developed by a developer and sold off. It's just a private development around a body of water that isn't a great pond. Very common. They'll receive permission of the local ConCon to do weed control and/or drawdowns to boost recreational access.
Their history clearly explains it. It's a non natural basin, so definitely not a great pond. It was man made, the land around it was developed by a developer and sold off. It's just a private development around a body of water that isn't a great pond. Very common. They'll receive permission of the local ConCon to do weed control and/or drawdowns to boost recreational access.
No mystery at all. Not uncommon at all.
Came to state the same ... man-made therefor legal. Not uncommon, but also not common enough to believe the majority of lake/pond homes in MA aren't on public access lakes (or 'great ponds') ... they are.
Seems OP's immediate area simply has an abundance of private and public water lakes/ponds. I'm staring at serviceable year 'round lakes homes in Worcester county for <$500k, which given current interest rates, is relatively 'cheap'. There's a nice little bungalow on lake Quinsigamond in Worcester for $425k, though that's likely more 'urban' than OP is seeking ... on the plus side it has city water/sewer which would spare OP the pain of operating/maintaining private septic in a watershed. I know many of my local lakes have associations purely to manage septic and road access for the private homes abutting, but the lake itself adheres to town and state regs.
A natural body of water qualifies as a ”great pond” if it's larger than 10 acres in area. Public access must be allowed to any such lake, though I don't think the law specifies exactly what that means, and I don't know whether there has to be a way to park a vehicle or launch a boat. It often seems to me as if lakes tend to get built up with houses all the way around, and if you asked about getting to the water, every individual landowner would say ”Not over my property, pal”.
On the other hand, if you create an artificial lake, then you own it, and you can keep it all to yourself or reserve it to your homeowners' association, and not let anyone else get to it. Sunset Lake in Ashburnham is 300 acres in size, but it's an artificial lake that's private.
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Originally Posted by Amontillado
A natural body of water qualifies as a ”great pond” if it's larger than 10 acres in area. Public access must be allowed to any such lake, though I don't think the law specifies exactly what that means, and I don't know whether there has to be a way to park a vehicle or launch a boat. It often seems to me as if lakes tend to get built up with houses all the way around, and if you asked about getting to the water, every individual landowner would say ”Not over my property, pal”.
On the other hand, if you create an artificial lake, then you own it, and you can keep it all to yourself or reserve it to your homeowners' association, and not let anyone else get to it. Sunset Lake in Ashburnham is 300 acres in size, but it's an artificial lake that's private.
It's more complicated than natural body of water, in reality. Many 10 acre naturally occurring ponds aren't great ponds
The basin can't have been artificially modified, and the reality a very significant percentage of waterbodies have been in this area, from a dam put in on an outlet and now removed 300 years ago, to modifying the shoreline, etc. That is why it needs considerable research to make a determination.
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