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TROUBLED WATERS | Legal battle washes over Lake Austin's most-used boat ramp

In late 2017, the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department announced it would stop issuing permits for commercial boat rental companies on Walsh Boat Landing, located just off Lake Austin Boulevard. But a longtime Lake Austin rental company sued the city and won an injunction to have a permit to legally operate on the boat launch.

AUSTIN — A legal battle over Lake Austin's most-used boat ramp could leave rental companies on troubled waters.

In late 2017, the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department announced it would stop issuing permits for commercial boat rental companies on Walsh Boat Landing, located just off Lake Austin Boulevard.

But one longtime Lake Austin rental company, Austin Party Cruises, sued the city and won an injunction to have a permit to legally operate on the boat launch.

The city issued this statement to KVUE:

“On Friday, March 30 2018, the Travis County District Court issued an order directing the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) to issue a temporary commercial boating permit to Watertight Endeavors Inc. dba Austin Party Cruises at Walsh Boat Landing. As directed, PARD will comply with the order while the injunction is in effect.”

However, that leaves more than a dozen other boat rental companies still without a permit to use Walsh Boat Landing, including Keep Austin Wet.

Keep Austin Wet Owner Santos Ramirez has been using the ramp for nine years and has paid for permits with no problems. However, he said he has been forced to operate on the ramp without a permit recently.

Ramirez said he uses Walsh Boat Landing because "it's a stone's throw from downtown, it has a dock that's super safe to load people on."

The only other accessible boat ramp is located along Loop 360, which is much smaller and not as safe, according to Ramirez.

Walsh Boat Landing is a public boat ramp, but the Parks and Recreation Department cited concerns with too much use while the ramp awaits repairs.

"It was kind of tough when we found out all of a sudden that there was going to be no commercial activity so that was pretty heartbreaking,” said Ramirez.

Now that the city has granted a permit to Austin Party Cruises, Ramirez hopes he and other boat rental company owners will also be granted a permit.

"I'm actually just waiting for an email hopefully that will tell me to go ahead and pay my dues and let's get going, that way I can get back to doing it legally which is how we really want to operate," Ramirez said.

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